At 3 pm on Wednesday, Peru had no president though the constitutional power was temporarily in the hands of the president of Congress. There was high tension in the streets of Lima, the capital. Traffic was closed, three black vehicles left the prefecture, and it was believed they carried the country’s elected president Pedro Castillo to prison. A red carpet was being hastily rolled into the halls of the Congress for the swearing in of a new president.
It was the culmination of a high-drama day that started at the time scheduled for a third vote to impeach Castillo on the count of what opponents deemed a "permanent moral incapacity" to lead the nation, stemming from charges that he used power for his own benefit in a presumptive family web of corruption.
They needed 87 votes among 130 lawmakers to remove him, they had failed twice before, and the final vote was uncertain.
However, in a pre-emptive move to forestall the vote, Castillo announced he was dissolving the Congress and installing an emergency government, calling for new elections for a new congress and the development of a new constitution.
In a television address, Castillo said he would rule by decree, and ordered a nightly curfew. The move was immediately recognized as an attempted "autogolpe," Spanish for self-coup, a form of coup d'état by a president to stay in power.
What ensued was a remarkable wrangling of constitutional powers as the president and the Congress attempted to take the powers from the other. A climate of uncertainty settled in the country and enhanced police presence was needed to establish calm in cities as far as Cuzco, some 600 kilometers southeast of the capital.
Peru’s Defender of the People, Eliana Revollar, head of an ombudsman autonomous office of government, issued a statement in which she said Peru was in the midst of a constitutional collapse "that can't be called anything but a coup," after many years of democracy.
The country’s Army General Command and four ministers resigned, including those in the key roles of economy and foreign affairs. The United States moved to demand that Castillo reverse the dissolution of Congress and reinstate democratic institutions. The move was not supported by the armed forces nor the powers of state.
Hours later, however, the Congress reversed Castillo’s decision and vacated the office of the presidency with 101 lawmakers voting in favor, summoning vice-president Dina Boluarte to assume the Presidency of the Republic in an act that was originally scheduled for 3 pm.
Vice President Dina Boluarte takes the oath of office during her swearing-in ceremony to become president at Congress in Lima, Peru on Wednesday | AP
Boluarte took to social media to indicate she rejected the president's decision to "perpetrate a breach of constitutional order with the closure of Congress." For attempting the coup, Congress ordered Castillo placed under arrest.
Peru’s National Police tweeted a picture of Castillo under arrest seated on a couch and surrounded by officials, some in uniform, with the note that said, "Fulfilling our faculties and attributions described in Article of Law No 1267 of the National Police of Peru, effectives of the PNP [Peruvian National Police] intervene (sic) the former president Pedro Castillo." The tweet was later deleted.
Tension and uncertainty ensued in the capital and other cities. A climate of doubt about the functionality of the country and its economic impact created fears among the population. Protesters were organizing in Lima carrying red-and-white Peruvian flags.
The hastily organized swearing in of the new president arranged the powers of state around a crucifix and a Bible.
At 3:55 pm, the presidential sash was placed on Boluarte, 60. The lawyer placed her right hand on the Bible, raised her left hand, and became Peru’s first female president in its 201-year history. She would be the fifth head of state of Peru in the last four years.
In 2019, President Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress and ordered new elections. The new congress then removed Vizcarra in 2020. The next President, Manuel Merino, lasted less than a week. Then President Francisco Sagasti, lasted nine months before Castillo was sworn in after winning the presidential elections.
Protests in favor of the destitution of the president in Cuzco and Lima contrasted with protests against the new president in the southern city of Arequipa.
In the coastal city of Trujillo in northern Peru, demonstrators on Wednesday evening lauded Castillo as "the best president Peru ever had," they say, "for having made the institutions of power available to common people instead of just a privileged class."
In Chimbote, 132 kilometers south (about the distance from Washington, D.C. to New York City), demonstrators took over the town square demanding a restitution of Castillo and qualifying the new president Boluarte as a traitor, and protesting against a "traitor congress that does not represent us."
As former president Castillo no longer enjoys the constitutional protections he had earlier in the day, he can be prosecuted as any other citizen, say Peruvian legal experts. Though Peruvian presidents have been accused of corruption for the last four decades, Castillo was the first one to be investigated while in office.
For decades, Peru has been in a constant tug-of-war between the legislative and executive powers that has resulted in many former presidents in prison.
As it did with Evo Morales when an insurrection ousted him from the presidency of Bolivia, Mexico has offered political asylum to Castillo.
The move caused outrage among legal experts who say that the attempted coup was a crime against the state for breaking the Constitutional order, and that Castillo was stopped in-flagranti, reason for which he must be made to account. The authorities have 48 hours to determine the former president’s legal status.
On Twitter, the new president voided curfew established earlier in the day by the former president. In her acceptance speech Boluarte asked for a truce to form a unity government.
“As we all know, there has been an attempted coup d'état, an imprint promoted by Mr. Pedro Castillo, which has not found an echo in the institutions of democracy and in the streets. This Congress of the Republic, in response to the constitutional mandate, has made a decision and it is my duty to act accordingly," said Boluarte.
"The Congress of the Republic has restored the democratic and constitutional order, declaring the vacancy of the presidency of Pedro Castillo, and has sworn in Vice President Dina Boluarte," said José Williams, president of Congress.
Before the day was over, jockeying for who would be placed in government positions was already under way. But the country seemed tired of the constant replacement of leaders that has been on high-speed since 2016; there have been few calls for new elections.
The international Pacific Alliance Summit which was to transfer its presidency from Mexico to Peru in Lima was suspended, announced Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard via Twitter.
"In view of the latest events in Peru, we agreed to postpone the Summit of the Pacific Alliance, which would be held on December 14th in the city of Lima." Boluarte vowed to govern until July 2026, the rest of Castillo’s term.
