Attempt by President Pedro Castillo to dissolve the Congress of Peru
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.
However, Castillo's decision to dissolve Congress led to a wave of resignations from his government. The Peruvian Armed Forces also declined to support his actions. On the same day, Castillo was removed and ceased to be president after the Constitutional Court rejected his dissolution of Congress. Vice President Dina Boluarte was sworn in as the new president later that day. In the aftermath of Castillo's removal, his supporters initiated nationwide protests demanding his release and Boluarte's resignation. The Boluarte government responded by declaring a national state of emergency on 14 December, massacring protesters, and suspending some constitutional protections for 30 days. Castillo was subsequently placed in pre-trial detention for 18 months on charges of rebellion and conspiracy, with an additional 36 months of detention for alleged corruption during his administration.
In a controversial move, the Constitutional Court, whose members were elected by Congress in a questionable manner, removed judicial oversight from Congress, effectively granting the legislative body absolute control over the government. Castillo maintained that two contentious votes of confidence between his former Prime Minister Aníbal Torres and Congress provided a legal basis for dissolving the legislative body. However, this claim was disputed by a Constitutional Court ruling, which stated that only Congress could interpret whether a motion of confidence had occurred, thereby consolidating more power in the hands of Congress. This event was widely characterized as an attempted coup d'état by Peruvian politicians, the Constitutional Court, Peruvian media, and some international news organizations, drawing comparisons to the "autogolpe" of Alberto Fujimori during the 1992 Peruvian self-coup d'état.
Representatives of many foreign countries, including Spain, United States, Brazil, Uruguay and the secretary-general of the Organization of American States rejected Castillo's actions and described them as an attempt to break the constitutional order. According to an Institute of Peruvian Studies poll, 53% of respondents disagreed with his attempt to dissolve Congress, while 44% of participants agreed. Supporters of Castillo said that a soft coup was perpetrated by Congress against him. Some governments of Latin America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico, responded to the crisis by refusing to recognize the Boluarte government and viewing Castillo as president. Castillo has also continued to consider himself as the legal president of Peru.
Background.
Congressional obstruction.
During the presidencies of Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra, the Congress was dominated by the opposition Popular Force, the party created by the daughter of the former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori, and opposed many of the actions performed by the presidents. The political legacy of the Fujimori family was assumed by Keiko. During their majority in congress, Fujimorists "earned a reputation as hardline obstructionists for blocking initiatives popular with Peruvians aimed at curbing the nation’s rampant corruption". Following the 2021 Peruvian general election, a significant bloc of right wing parties, including Go on Country, Popular Force and Popular Renewal, exercised significant influence in Congress.
Constitutional crisis and removal of presidents.
In the Constitution of Peru, the executive branch can dissolve congress after a second vote of no-confidence. Under former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Congress held a no-confidence vote on 15 September 2017, resulting in the collapse of his cabinet, the first vote of no-confidence by the current congressional body. President Kuczynski would later face impeachment in December 2017 and March 2018 due to his admitted involvement with Odebrecht during the Operation Car Wash scandal. Following the release of the Kenjivideos reportedly showing Kuczynski making deals with opposition politicians to avoid impeachment votes, President Kuczynski resigned.
Martín Vizcarra, Kuczynski's first vice president, then assumed office in March 2018. President Vizcarra enacted a constitutional process on 29 May 2019 that would create a motion of no confidence towards Congress if they refused to cooperate with his proposed actions against corruption. For the next four months, Congress delayed bills targeting corruption and postponed general elections proposed by Vizcarra. On 30 September 2019, the President of the Council of Ministers, Salvador del Solar, set forth a vote of confidence before the Congress for refusing to pass a bill that modified the election process of judges of the Constitutional Court. The vote of confidence sought to stop the election of magistrates, modify the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court and the designation of the tribunes. However, the Plenary Session of Congress decided to continue with the election of magistrates, and ignored the vote of confidence presented by Del Solar, naming a new member to the Constitutional Court. Many of the Constitutional Court nominees selected by Congress were alleged to be involved in corruption. Notwithstanding the affirmative vote, Vizcarra stated that the appointment of a new member of the Constitutional Court and an ignoring of the confidence motion constituted a "de facto" vote of no confidence in the government, which would be the second of the legislative term. These actions by Congress, as well as the months of slow progress towards anti-corruption reforms, pushed Vizcarra to dissolve the legislative body on 30 September, with Vizcarra stating "Peruvian people, we have done all we could." Shortly after Vizcarra announced the dissolution of Congress, the legislative body refused to recognize the president's actions, declared Vizcarra as suspended from the presidency, and named Vice President Mercedes Aráoz as the interim president, moves that were largely seen as null and void. By the night of 30 September, Peruvians gathered outside of the Legislative Palace to protest against Congress and demand the removal of legislators while the heads of the Armed Forces met with Vizcarra, announcing that they still recognized him as president and head of the armed forces. On 14 January 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled that the dissolution of Congress by Vizcarra under the given rationale was legal. Snap legislative elections were held on 26 January, with Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force party losing its majority in Congress and most of its seats.
Months later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, President Vizcarra was impeached in September 2020 though not removed, later being controversially removed from office a month later. Thousands of citizens then gathered in protests against Vizcarra's impeachment. Manuel Merino, who succeeded him as president the following day, resigned on 15 November. Francisco Sagasti was made President of Congress on 16 November and thus succeeded Merino as president on 17 November per the presidential line of succession, since both vice presidential positions were vacated by Vizcarra in 2018 and Mercedes Aráoz in May 2020.
Castillo presidency.
Sagasti served as president until Castillo was elected in the 2021 general election, with Keiko Fujimori losing her third consecutive presidential bid. The 2021 election saw many right-wing candidates elected to the congress.
Attempts to remove Castillo.
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The election will be flipped, dear friends.
—Keiko Fujimori
Multiple attempts to prevent Castillo from entering the office of the presidency or to later remove him occurred, beginning shortly after election results were determined. Following reports of Castillo's apparent victory, Fujimori and her supporters made claims of electoral fraud, leading obstructionist efforts to overturn the election with support of citizens in Lima. Many business groups and politicians refused to recognize Castillo's ascent to the presidency, with those among the more affluent, including former military officers and wealthy families, demanded new elections, promoted calls for a military coup, and used rhetoric to support their allegations of fraud.
Following the 2021 election, audio recordings deemed "Vladi-audios" were leaked revealing that Vladimiro Montesinos was allegedly involved in at least 17 landline phone calls while imprisoned at the Peruvian Navy's CEREC maximum security prison in an effort to prevent Castillo from entering office and to protect Keiko Fujimori from being imprisoned. In one reported audio, Montesinos mentions a first plan to have Fujimori's husband go to the United States embassy in Lima to present "documentation of the fraud" to the Office of Regional Affairs and Central Intelligence Agency, with Montesinos allegedly saying he already contacted the embassy, that the documents would reach President Joe Biden and that his administration would condemn the election as interference from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, subsequently giving Fujimori's claims of fraud more weight. Right-wing politicians in Peru downplayed the audios of Montesinos. According to IDL-Reporteros, the Navy of Peru was involved in a "lie" when issuing their joint statement, saying that Montesinos was only involved in two phone calls, with IDL asking "How could you not notice the 17 calls and 12 conversations at CEREC, at the Naval Base of the institution with the greatest development in electronic intelligence within the Armed Forces?".
In October 2021, the website "El Foco" released recordings revealing that leaders of the manufacturing employers' organization National Society of Industries, the leader of the Union of Multimodal Transport Guilds of Peru (UGTRANM), Geovani Rafael Diez Villegas, political leaders, and other business executives planned various actions, including funding transportation strikes in November 2021, to destabilize the Castillo government and prompt his removal. Far-right groups of former soldiers also allied with political parties like Go on Country – Social Integration Party, Popular Force, and Popular Renewal in an effort to remove Castillo, with some veteran leaders seen directly with Rafael López Aliaga and Castillo's former presidential challenger Keiko Fujimori, who signed the "Madrid Charter" promoted by the Spanish far-right political party Vox. These groups directed threats towards Castillo government officials and journalists, whilst also calling for a coup d'état and insurgency.
Impeachment attempts.
From the beginning of his presidency, Castillo was targeted by Congress, dominated by the opposition right-wing parties, whom made it clear that they wanted to remove him from office by impeachment. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru (1993), Congress can impeach the president on the vague grounds of "moral incapacity", effectively making the legislature more powerful than the executive branch.
In November 2021, four months into Castillo's term, Fujimori announced that her party was pushing forward impeachment proceedings, arguing that Castillo was "morally unfit for office". On 25 November 28 legislators from Fujimori's party presented a signed motion of impeachment to Congress, setting up a vote for opening impeachment proceedings. The impeachment proceeding did not occur, as 76 voted against proceedings, 46 were in favor, and 4 abstained, with the requirement of 52 favoring proceedings not met.
In February 2022, it was reported that Fujimorists and politicians close to Fujimori organized a meeting at the Casa Andina hotel in Lima with the assistance of the German liberal group Friedrich Naumann Foundation, with those present including President of Congress Maricarmen Alva, at which plans to remove Castillo from office were discussed. Alva had already shared her readiness to assume the presidency if Castillo were to be vacated from the position and a leaked Telegram group chat of the board of directors of Congress that she heads revealed plans coordinated to oust Castillo.
A second impeachment attempt related to corruption allegations did make it to proceedings in March 2022. On 28 March 2022, Castillo appeared before Congress calling the allegations baseless and for legislators to "vote for democracy" and "against instability", with 55 voting for impeachment, 54 voting against, and 19 abstaining, thus failing to reach the 87 votes necessary.
Public approval of Castillo steadily declined to a record low 20% approval, as his presidency progressed and protests occurred in early 2022 as a result of increasing prices with crises surrounding the president arising steadily. In October 2022, Attorney General Patricia Benavides declared that President Castillo was the head of a criminal organization and called on Congress to remove him from office, though this act was