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Dina Boluarte was sworn in as Peru’s new president on Wednesday, while former head of state Pedro Castillo was arrested after being impeached earlier in the day. This 60-year-old lawyer, described as a “fighter”, is the first woman to lead the country.
Released from anonymity since the victory in July 2021 of the now deposed President Pedro Castillo, Dina Boluarte became, Wednesday, December 7, the first woman at the head of Peru.
This 60-year-old lawyer, former Minister of Development and Social Inclusion and also Vice-President, was one of the most prominent figures in the government.
At least, until his exclusion from the government team two weeks ago by the now ex-Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, dismissed on Wednesday for “moral incapacity” and arrested on charges of rebellion.
A “female fighter”
Two days ago, however, Dina Boluarte risked being prevented from exercising this supreme office and any public responsibility for ten years, until a congressional commission dismissed a complaint against her for an alleged constitutional violation.
She had indeed been pinned by the Comptroller General of the Republic for having held a position in the private sector at the same time as her office as a civil servant, which is prohibited by Peruvian law.
According to this authority, which oversees the proper application of public policies and the proper use of state assets, the new president signed documents as president of the departmental club of Apurimac while she was part of the government.
Dina Boluarte acknowledged the facts, but maintained that she had affixed this signature only for “bureaucratic reasons” when the new president of the club had not yet taken office.
This club welcomes members who, like her, live in Lima and are from Apurimac, a region in the south-east of the country.
It was there that she was born, on May 31, 1962, in the district of Chalhuanca. “She has the profile of a female fighter,” said left-wing parliamentarian Sigrid Bazan.
The mandate of the people
In July, Dina Boluarte said she was ready to assume the presidential office until the end of the planned term, that is to say 2026, if Pedro Castillo, already in the crosshairs of the tax authorities and in difficulty in Congress, were to be removed from office.
“There is a mandate that the people have given us, to govern for five years, and that is our only agenda. To work during the four years (of mandate) that remain for the most vulnerable, those who are most in need,” she said.
According to the new president of Peru, Pedro Castillo had told her several times that he had not committed any act of corruption.
In December 2021, when Pedro Castillo was targeted for the second time by a procedure of impeachment of the Parliament, Dina Boluarte had said that she would give up the post of president if this impeachment occurred.
With AFP
