Peru is no stranger to political upheaval, but the events of October 2025 have left even the most seasoned observers reeling. In a stunning turn of events, President Dina Boluarte was impeached and removed from office following a unanimous vote by Peru’s Congress. The reason? A dramatic surge in violent crime, widespread corruption allegations, and a public fed up with what they saw as government inaction. Within hours, José Jerí, the 38-year-old Speaker of Parliament, stepped into the presidential role, immediately launching a wave of high-profile prison raids and vowing to restore order to a nation teetering on the brink.
According to AP, the impeachment unfolded rapidly on October 11, 2025. All 122 members of Congress cast their votes to remove Boluarte, with not a single abstention or dissent. Lawmakers cited Boluarte’s "moral incapacity" and her inability to address the country’s spiraling crime rate and political instability. Prime Minister Eduardo Arana announced that the government would fully comply with Congress’s decision, marking a rare moment of unity in a country deeply divided by years of political infighting.
Boluarte, who had served as President since December 2022, did not attend the impeachment session. Her tenure was marked by frequent protests, corruption scandals, and a persistent sense that the government was losing its grip on public safety. At the end of September, mass demonstrations erupted across Peru, with citizens voicing their frustration not just at the government’s inability to fight crime, but also at stalled pension reforms and ineffective anti-corruption measures. As Diario Gestion reported, the level of organized crime in the country had reached "an unprecedented low" for public safety.
Stepping into this maelstrom, José Jerí wasted no time in making his priorities clear. On October 11, just one day after taking office, Jerí led a series of coordinated raids on prisons holding some of the country’s most notorious gang leaders. The presidency described these actions as part of a new, hardline approach to the country’s security crisis. Jerí, flanked by elite officers and dressed in a crisp white shirt with sleeves rolled up, personally oversaw cell-to-cell searches at the maximum-security Ancón I prison in Lima. The operation uncovered smuggled cellphones, drugs, and sharp objects—evidence, officials said, of the criminal networks operating even behind bars.
Simultaneously, raids were carried out at three other facilities: Lima’s overcrowded Lurigancho prison, the Challapalca maximum-security prison high in the Andes, and El Milagro prison in the north. Authorities emphasized that these sweeps were just the beginning of a broader campaign to dismantle the infrastructure supporting Peru’s criminal gangs, both inside and outside the prison system.
Jerí’s message to the nation was unambiguous. “The evil that afflicts us at this moment is public insecurity,” he declared to lawmakers after his swearing-in on October 10, as reported by AP. “The main enemy is out on the streets. Criminal gangs, criminal organizations, they are our enemies today.”
The statistics paint a grim picture. Killings in Peru have surged to 2,082 homicides last year, up sharply from 676 in 2017—the previous record high. Perhaps even more alarming, half of these recent killings were contract murders, a chilling sign of the growing power and brazenness of organized crime. Extortion cases have also skyrocketed, jumping from 16,333 in 2022 to 22,348 last year. Criminal gangs, emboldened by the government’s perceived weakness, have increasingly targeted businesses across the spectrum—from music bands to transport firms—demanding so-called "protection" fees.
This wave of violence has not occurred in a vacuum. Peru’s political landscape has been in near-constant turmoil since 2018. In just seven years, the country has cycled through seven presidents. Three have been impeached—including Boluarte—and two others resigned to avoid removal. This relentless churn at the top has left many Peruvians feeling that their leaders are more focused on survival than on solving the nation’s mounting problems.
The impeachment of Boluarte was, in many ways, the culmination of years of growing frustration. Lawmakers pointed to her inability to stem the tide of violence, her government’s entanglement in corruption scandals, and a general loss of public trust. The shooting at a concert in Lima just hours before her removal only added fuel to the fire, inflaming a public already on edge.
“Citizens’ safety is at an unprecedented low,” stated the official impeachment document, as cited by Diario Gestion. The document also highlighted the rising number of murders and the government’s failure to enact meaningful reforms as key reasons for Boluarte’s ouster.
With the general elections scheduled for April 12, 2026, Jerí is expected to serve as interim president until July 2026, when the newly elected leader will take office. The road ahead is daunting. Jerí, a conservative lawyer who rose to the presidency of Congress in July 2025, now faces the monumental task of restoring both safety and public trust. His early actions—particularly the high-profile prison raids—have been designed to send a clear signal: the era of government inaction is over.
But questions remain. Can Jerí’s tough-on-crime approach succeed where others have failed? Will the public’s desire for stability and security be enough to overcome the deep-seated divisions and mistrust that have plagued Peru for years? And as the general elections approach, will the country’s political class finally unite behind meaningful reforms, or will the cycle of turmoil continue?
For now, Peruvians are watching closely, hoping that this latest political shakeup might finally bring the change they have long demanded. The coming months will test not only Jerí’s resolve but the resilience of Peru’s democracy itself.