Peru’s Congress votes to remove President Jose Jeri in latest shake-up

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Jeri is the latest in a series of Peruvian presidents to be removed from office by an act of Congress, after Dina Boluarte and Pedro Castillo.

Just four months into his term, Peru’s President Jose Jeri has been impeached and removed from office.

The decision was the result of a Tuesday vote from Peru’s Congress, which debated multiple corruption allegations against Jeri’s government.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Peruvian municipal officials say three killed in attack on informal mine
• list 2 of 3Peru approves emergency overhaul of state oil firm Petroperu
• list 3 of 3Peru to debate removal of President Jose Jeri four months into his term

Jeri, a right-wing leader, was formerly the head of Congress. But in October, he took over the country’s presidency after his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, was impeached for “moral incapacity”.

Boluarte had replaced the last democratically elected president, Pedro Castillo, in December 2022 after he too was impeached.

Jeri was the seventh president in a decade to lead Peru. Many of his predecessors have been mired in scandal, forcing them to step down or face impeachment.

In Jeri’s case, the scandals largely concerned allegations that the right-wing leader was involved in influence-peddling. One of the most notable was informally dubbed “Chifagate”, after the Peruvian-Chinese fusion cuisine known as “chifa”.

“Chifagate” emerged after Peruvian media published video of Jeri attending a late-night meeting with a Chinese businessman, Zhihua Yang, at his restaurant in Lima. The meeting was not included on the official presidential agenda, as required under Peruvian law.

Jeri appeared to be in disguise in the video, wearing informal clothing including a deep hoodie that partially obscured his face, which spurred further questions about the nature of the meeting.

Subsequent images showed Jeri visiting another one of Yang’s businesses, a wholesale store, this time in sunglasses.

Jeri has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has dismissed the meetings as get-togethers to discuss a Peruvian-Chinese friendship day — or as simple shopping trips for candy and food.

Yang has ties to the Peruvian government. Under Boluarte’s administration, he received a concession to build a hydroelectric plant, which has experienced delays and faced questions about its transparency.

The meetings between Yang and Jeri also reportedly included a third Chinese businessman, Jiwu Xiaodong, who was placed under house arrest for engaging in illegal activities.

At Tuesday’s congressional debate, Jeri also faced questions about late-night meetings he took with women who later received government contracts and other irregular interactions he had. Jeri has also faced accusations of sexual assault, stretching back to December 2024.

He faced a total of seven motions of censure against his presidency. Ultimately, 75 members of Peru’s Congress backed the measure to remove Jeri, while three abstained and a further 24 voted against the proposal.

A new interim president is set to be voted upon during Wednesday evening, around 6pm local time (23:00 GMT).

Jeri’s removal marks a new chapter in the turmoil facing Peru’s government. The country is less than two months away from a general election on April 12, which will help decide its next president.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in that election, the race will proceed to a runoff in June.

Currently, the field is packed, with at least 36 candidates vying for the presidency. Election observers fear that whoever wins could face the same quick-fire impeachment proceedings that their predecessors have endured.

Presidents in Peru have often faced accusations of “moral incapacity”, a pathway to impeachment that critics have denounced as overly vague.

Jeri’s impeachment comes within months of several high-profile court decisions against former presidents.

In November, former President Martin Vizcarra, who served from 2018 to 2020, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted of accepting bribes for government contracts.

Then, in December, Castillo received a sentence of 11 years and five months for his conviction on charges of rebellion and conspiracy against the state.

Castillo, a left-wing leader, had been facing a third impeachment attempt in December 2022, when he attempted what many describe as a self-coup. Within hours, members of his cabinet had resigned, and Congress had impeached him.

Prosecutors in Peru have said they plan to continue investigations into Jeri on corruption charges.