Peru’s new president under fire for child sex comments
The Hindu
Peru's new interim president faces backlash for past controversial comments on child sex, raising concerns among rights groups.
Rights groups expressed concern on Thursday (February 19, 2026) at the choice of 83-year-old Jose Maria Balcazar as Peru’s stand-in President given past utterances on girls and under-aged sex.
Mr. Balcazar was on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) named Peru’s interim leader, for a period of just over five months until the next election, after predecessor Jose Jeri was impeached on graft allegations.
He became the South American country’s eighth President in a decade.
But Mr. Balcazar’s nomination has angered rights and women’s groups.
In 2023, he told a congressional debate about ending child marriage that “early sexual relations aid a woman’s psychological future.”
Peru that year passed a legal reform to ban marriage for anyone under 18. Previously, teenagers could get married with their parents’ consent.
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