José Pedro Castillo Terrones is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 to 7 December 2022. Facing imminent impeachment proceedings, on 7 December 2022, Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress and rule by decree. In response, the Congress of the Republic of Peru impeached him, resulting in his removal from office.
Since 2016, Peru has been plagued with political instability and a growing crisis, initially between the President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Congress, led de facto by Keiko Fujimori. The crisis emerged in late 2016 and early 2017 as the polarization of Peruvian politics increased, as well as a growing schism between the executive and legislative branches of government. Fujimori and her Fujimorist supporters would use their control of Congress to obstruct the executive branch of successive governments, resulting with a period of political instability in Peru.
Vicente Antonio Zeballos Salinas is a Peruvian politician who served as Prime Minister of Peru from September 2019 to July 2020, under President Martín Vizcarra's administration. Prior, he served as Minister of Justice and Human Rights.
Luis Alberto Otárola Peñaranda is a Peruvian attorney and politician who was the Prime Minister of Peru from 2022 until his resignation in 2024. He previously served as Minister of Defense twice, under Ollanta Humala and Dina Boluarte.
Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer who has been serving as the 64th and current president of Peru since 2022. She had served as the first vice president and minister at the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion under President Pedro Castillo. She served as an officer at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC) from 2007 until 2022.
The presidency of Pedro Castillo began with his inauguration as the president of Peru on 28 July 2021, the Peruvian Independence Day. In the 2021 Peruvian general election, Castillo, a school teacher and union organizer, won the presidential election against the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori of Popular Force by a 45,000 margin in the runoff. In the congressional elections, Castillo's party, Free Peru, did not get a majority in the Congress of the Republic of Peru.
Events in the year 2022 in Peru.
Waldemar José Cerrón Rojas is a Peruvian professor and a politician.
Liz Patricia Benavides Vargas is a Peruvian lawyer. On June 20, 2022, she was elected as Attorney General of Peru and was removed from her position on 7 December 2023 as a result of the Peruvian Public Ministry controversy.
Betssy Betzabet Chávez Chino is a Peruvian attorney and politician, who served as prime minister of Peru from 26 November until 7 December 2022, when she resigned. She was Peru's seventh female prime minister. She's been a member of congress since July 2021 and served as Minister of Culture from August 2022 to November 2022. She previously was Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, from October 2021 until May 2022, when a censure measure was approved against her. She later held the position of Minister of Culture, before being appointed prime minister.
On 7 December 2022, Pedro Castillo, the then-President of Peru, made an attempt to dissolve the Congress amidst looming removal proceedings. This move included the immediate imposition of a curfew, an attempt to establish an emergency government, and a call for the formation of a constituent assembly. Prior to this, Attorney General Patricia Benavides had accused Castillo of leading a criminal organization, a claim that contravened Article 117 of the Constitution of Peru. She had urged the Congress to remove him from office, leading to the third removal attempt against Castillo. Castillo defended his actions by arguing that the Congress, which had obstructed many of his policies, was serving oligopolistic businesses and had colluded with the Constitutional Court to undermine the executive branch, thereby creating a "congressional dictatorship". He also advocated for the immediate election of a constituent assembly, a demand that had been echoed since the 2020 Peruvian protests.
César Rodrigo Landa Arroyo is a Peruvian professor and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru intermittently from February to December 2022 under the presidency of Pedro Castillo. He also served as president of the Constitutional Court of Peru between 2006 and 2008, and vice minister of Justice in 2004.
Pedro Miguel Angulo Arana is a Peruvian lawyer who served as prime minister of Peru under the presidency of Dina Boluarte, from 10 to 21 December 2022.
Following the ousting of president of Peru, Pedro Castillo on 7 December 2022, a series of political protests against the government of president Dina Boluarte and the Congress of Peru occurred. The demonstrations lack centralized leadership and originated primarily among grassroots movements and social organizations on the left to far-left, as well as indigenous communities, who feel politically disenfranchised. Castillo was removed from office and arrested after announcing the illegal dissolution of Congress, the intervention of the state apparatus, and the forced establishment of an "emergency government", which was characterized as a self-coup attempt by all government institutions, all professional institutions, and mainstream media in Peru while Castillo's supporters said that Congress attempted to overthrow Castillo. Castillo's successor Dina Boluarte, along with Congress, were widely disapproved, with the two receiving the lowest approval ratings among public offices in the Americas. Among the main demands of the demonstrators are the dissolution of Congress, the resignation of Boluarte, new general elections, the release of Castillo, and the formation of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. It has also been reported that some of the protesters have declared an insurgency in Punos's region. Analysts, businesses, and voters said that immediate elections are necessary to prevent future unrest, although many establishment political parties have little public support.
The 2022–2023 Apurímac protests corresponds to a series of protests and violent confrontations that began on 10 December 2022 in the department of Apurímac in the context of the December 2022 Peruvian protests. The protesters demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the closure of the Congress of the Republic, and new general elections. Unlike the protests in other regions and cities, in Apurímac the confrontations are more violent, and criminal acts have been recorded, such as the kidnapping of police officers and attacks on police stations. The Boluarte government declared a state of emergency, removing some constitutional protections from citizens, including the rights preventing troops from staying within private homes and buildings, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and "personal freedom and security".
The Ayacucho massacre was a massacre perpetrated by the Peruvian Army on 15 December 2022 in Ayacucho, Peru during the 2022–2023 Peruvian protests, occurring one day after President Dina Boluarte, with the support of right-wing parties in Congress, granted the Peruvian Armed Forces expanded powers and the ability to respond to demonstrations. The clash occurred due to the protesters' attempt to storm the local airport. On that day, demonstrations took place in Ayacucho and the situation intensified when the military deployed helicopters to fire at protesters, who later tried to take over the city's airport, which was defended by the Peruvian Army and the National Police of Peru. Troops responded by firing live ammunition at protesters, resulting in ten dead and 61 injured. Among the injured, 90% had gunshot wounds, while those killed were shot in the head or torso. Nine of the ten killed had wounds consistent with the ammunition used in the IMI Galil service rifle used by the army.
The Juliaca massacre occurred on January 9, 2023, in the city of Juliaca, located in Peru’s Puno Department, amid widespread protests against President Dina Boluarte's government. The event marked one of the deadliest confrontations during the 2022–2023 Peruvian political protests, which erupted following the ousting and imprisonment of former president Pedro Castillo. Peruvian National Police opened fire on demonstrators, who were primarily from the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous communities, resulting in the deaths of at least 18 civilians, including a medical worker, and injuries to over 100 individuals. Most fatalities were caused by gunshot wounds, with reports indicating the use of military-grade weapons by police, sparking widespread condemnation.
This is a broad timeline of the 2022–2023 Peruvian protests against the government of Dina Boluarte and the Congress of Peru, sparked by the self-coup attempt of President Pedro Castillo, who was later arrested for his actions. The protests were organized by social organizations and indigenous peoples who felt they experienced political disenfranchisement, specifically on the politically left-wing to far left, with the groups demanding immediate general elections and a constituent assembly to draft a new Constitution of Peru.
Vicente Romero Fernández is a retired general of the Peruvian National Police. He is the current Minister of the Interior of Peru since 13 January 2023 under the presidency of Dina Boluarte. He previously served as the Minister of the Interior under the presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from 9 January to 2 April 2018, after the resignation of Carlos Basombrío.
Silvana Emperatriz Robles Araujo is a Peruvian nurse technician, dentist and politician. She is a congresswoman for the period 2021-2026 and was the last Minister of Culture in the government of Pedro Castillo, from November until the fall of Castillo during his attempted coup d'état in December 2022.
