Peru has lost another president. Here’s why, and what happens next

Peru’s Congress on Tuesday voted to remove interim President José Jerí from office, triggering a fresh wave of political instability weeks before April's presidential election.

Peru’s Congress on Tuesday voted to remove interim President José Jerí from office, triggering a fresh wave of political instability just weeks before the nation’s April presidential election.

Jerí was Peru’s seventh president in less than a decade, and will now be replaced by a member of Congress, who will be expected to lead the country during the election and until the nation’s newly elected president is sworn in on July 28.

Jerí, a 39-year-old lawyer, was elected to Peru’s Congress in 2021 for Somos Peru, a small conservative party.

He was the head of Peru’s Congress in October, when lawmakers voted to remove then President Dina Boluarte from office as the nation faced increasing rates of violent crime.

Following Boluarte’s removal, Jerí was elected by his peers as the nation’s interim president, with the expectation that he would stay in office until July, when a new presidential term begins. But his mandate was cut short as corruption allegations surfaced against him and Congress grew impatient with his leadership.

Jerí is facing a preliminary investigation for corruption and influence peddling launched by Peru’s Attorney General’s office earlier this year.

The charges stem from a series of undisclosed meetings with two Chinese businessmen in December. One of those businessmen holds active government contracts, while the other is under investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal logging operation.

Jerí has denied wrongdoing. He said he met the executives to organize a Peruvian-Chinese festivity, but his opponents have accused him of corruption.