Chaos In Peru, Castillo Attempts Coup But Is Arrested – Latin America
Pedro Castillo is no longer the President of Peru. At the end of a chaotic day marked by a coup attempt by the leader, the Peruvian parliament in effect impeached him by emergency measure, precipitating impeachment proceedings for “moral incompetence” that were scheduled for the day. Immediately afterwards, Vice President Dina Boulwart was summoned to the succession ceremony, as required by the constitution.
And in the evening, the police arrested Castillo in the province of Lima, where he took refuge in the company of former Prime Minister Anibal Torres. In view of the possibility of dismissal – the third attempt against him in his 16 months in office – Castillo had addressed the country by surprise this morning with a letter announcing that he had decided to dissolve Parliament to prepare for new elections to be held in the meantime. Nine months that would allow the establishment of a legislative assembly with constitutional powers. There was an immediate reaction from the opposition, most of the media and the heads of the judiciary, who condemned the head of state’s announcement as a desperate gesture and a “coup against democracy in Peru”.
Within a few hours, Prime Minister Betsy Chavez and five ministers resigned, as did the army chief and some ambassadors, including those to the United Nations and the Organization of American States. At the end of the morning, Castillo also ditched Vice President Dina Boulwart, who thus retained her constitutional powers. Finally, after a few hours of uncertainty, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and the Police also issued a statement expressing their loyalty to the constitution, and absolving the head of state of responsibility. At that point, Parliament decided to bring forward the scheduled session to motion the dismissal of Castillo, which proceeded very quickly, without even a preliminary discussion. And the supporters of the proposal went beyond expectations: out of 130 members of Parliament, 101 voted in favor of impeachment, against six against and ten abstained.
In Lima and many other Peruvian cities, people took to the streets in an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty due to possible clashes between Castillo’s supporters and fighters of the center-right forces who had opposed him from day one. But in the end, no serious incidents were reported, thanks to the strong presence of the elements in the defense of sensitive places. Castillo, a teacher and trade unionist, took office on July 28, 2021, narrowly defeating Keiko Fujimori, a right-wing leader in Peru and daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, in a runoff.
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