Peru woke up on October 10, 2025, to yet another abrupt change in leadership, marking its seventh president in less than a decade. José Jerí, a 38-year-old lawyer with scant national recognition and even less political experience, was sworn in as interim president after Congress ousted Dina Boluarte in a lightning-fast, midnight impeachment. For many Peruvians, the scene was all too familiar—a nation once lauded for its economic stability now seems caught in an endless loop of political upheaval.
The ouster of Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, capped a tumultuous chapter in the country’s modern history. According to the Associated Press, Congress convened late Thursday night to debate her removal after accepting four separate motions to impeach. The charge: her administration’s inability to stem a relentless surge in crime. When Boluarte failed to appear before lawmakers shortly before midnight, they wasted no time—124 out of 130 members voted to remove her, with no opposition recorded. It was the ninth attempt to unseat her, but this time, the public mood had shifted after a gunman opened fire at a Lima concert just hours earlier, injuring five and stoking outrage over the government’s perceived impotence against crime.
Boluarte’s presidency, which began in December 2022 after the impeachment of Pedro Castillo, was troubled from the outset. She inherited a divided nation and a Congress dominated by an authoritarian coalition of political families, as detailed by The Atlantic. This coalition, led by the Fujimoris, the Cerróns, César Acuña, and José Luna Gálvez, had three main objectives: shield themselves from judicial scrutiny, weaken law enforcement, and consolidate power in Congress. Boluarte, lacking a strong political base and trailed by corruption scandals, became a willing partner in their project—until she became too much of a liability.
Her time in office was marked by unrest and scandal. In the first three months alone, over 500 protests erupted demanding her resignation. Official statistics cited by AP show that between January and mid-August 2025, 6,041 people were killed—the highest toll for that period since 2017. Extortion complaints soared by 28% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Boluarte herself became embroiled in controversy, with the Attorney General’s Office launching investigations into alleged money laundering and corruption, including the revelation of a secret nose job performed by a friendly plastic surgeon in 2023.
Boluarte’s unpopularity reached historic lows, with polls showing her approval rating plummeting to just three percent, as reported by The Atlantic. Yet her removal was less about her personal failings and more about the shifting calculations of the congressional coalition. For two years, this group had effectively run the country, sidelining the judiciary, enabling criminal networks, and rewriting laws to suit their interests. Their support for Boluarte evaporated when public anger—fueled by the concert shooting and heavy-handed police repression of Gen-Z protestors—threatened their own grip on power.
Enter José Jerí, a relative unknown who had only been elected to Congress in 2021 with around 11,000 votes, stepping in as interim president by virtue of his position as congressional leader. His rapid ascent was all the more surprising given his own statements just months earlier, when he told El Comercio he would not seek to replace Boluarte if she were impeached, citing a belief in “presidential institutionality.” Yet, as the rules dictated, with no vice president in place, the mantle fell to him. Jerí quickly pledged to pursue reconciliation, tackle runaway crime, and ensure neutrality in the upcoming April 2026 presidential elections.
But can one man, especially one so little known and lacking a broad mandate, steer Peru out of its deepening crisis? The Atlantic paints a bleak picture: Peru has morphed into what many describe as a “mafia state”—a nation where a consortium of corrupt politicians and criminal actors hold sway, rather than a single autocrat or party. The consequences have been devastating: the state’s legitimacy has eroded, outmigration has surged, and organized crime has flourished. Illegal gold miners, drug traffickers, and extortionists operate with impunity, while ordinary Peruvians face ever more brazen violence and lawlessness.
The roots of this predicament run deep. After the fall of right-wing strongman Alberto Fujimori in 2000, Peru enjoyed a period of robust economic growth and relative political stability. But starting in 2016, the balance of power shifted dramatically. Keiko Fujimori, Alberto’s daughter, lost the presidency but gained control of Congress, using it to oust two presidents and weaken the executive branch. Simultaneously, prosecutors began probing corruption at the highest levels, prompting lawmakers—many under suspicion themselves—to band together in self-defense. The upshot: Congress became the true center of power, often at the expense of checks and balances and the rule of law.
Boluarte’s removal, then, is less a new beginning than a symptom of a system in crisis. The authoritarian congressional coalition remains firmly in control. As general elections loom in April 2026, more than 39 parties and 117 presidential and vice presidential candidates are expected to run. The leading contenders—Lima mayor Rafael López Aliaga and Keiko Fujimori—are both aligned with the dominant congressional blocks, polling at 10% and 8% respectively. Thanks to recent reforms, many sitting members of Congress will be eligible to run for seats in a newly created Senate, ensuring their continued influence regardless of the presidential outcome.
What happens next is anyone’s guess. Some analysts, including law professor Rosa María Palacios, argue that unless a robust challenger emerges to unite the fragmented electorate, the status quo will likely persist. The risk, as The Atlantic notes, is that Peruvians—frustrated but demobilized—will see little change, while crime and outmigration worsen. Alternatively, a charismatic outsider could break through, but would face the daunting task of undoing years of institutional damage—if the coalition even allows such a candidate to take office.
As Peru stands at this crossroads, the stakes could not be higher. The upcoming elections will determine not just the next president, but whether the country can claw its way back to a functioning democracy or slide further into lawlessness and corruption. For now, Peruvians are left to hope that this latest change at the top brings more than just another nameplate on the presidential desk.