Sao Paulo, Brazil — Peru’s Congress on Tuesday impeached interim President Jose Jerry on charges of holding secret meetings with Chinese businessmen.
Jerí came to power in October after Congress impeached Dina Boluarte on grounds of “permanent moral incompetence.”
This impeachment highlights the serious political instability in Peru since 2016. During this period, Peru cycled through eight presidents, punctuated by resignations, impeachments and scandals.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, 75 voted in favor of impeachment, 24 against and three abstentions, a process legally known as a motion to censure.
In addition to impeachment, lawmakers scheduled a general election for April 12 to elect a new president. Meanwhile, the Andean nation will be governed by a leader elected in parliament on Wednesday.
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In explaining its reasons for removing the president, Congress accused Jerry of holding secret meetings with China’s chief executive, Zhihua Yang, who had won state concessions for energy sector projects.
As reported in Peruvian media, Jerí was filmed meeting Yang in downtown Lima.
Through this meeting, the Prosecutor’s Office conducted a follow-up investigation into the abuse of influence in the collection of security camera footage from properties located in the Metropolitan Prefecture of Lima, San Borja Prefecture and San Borja Region.
In a video posted on social media by the president’s official account in January of this year, Jerry confirmed the meeting but denied that there was any “irregular content.”
“Also, neither on that day nor on any other day did he ask me for any kind of favor or support, nor did he ask me to intercede for him or any third party. Moreover, I have no idea about his friendships or past activities. If he had asked me for anything out of the ordinary, I would have automatically cut off all ties with him (Zhihua Yang),” Jerí said.
According to state news agency Andina, Jerry had left the government building known as Casa de Pizarro the night before. He became the third president of Peru to leave office in succession.
After just four months in office, Jerry assumed the presidency of Peru in October 2025 following the impeachment of former Peruvian president Dina Boluarte, who was unanimously forced to step down after violence erupted in the country.
President Boluarte took office in 2022 after former President Pedro Castillo was removed from office and imprisoned following a coup attempt.
Featured Image: José Jerí was impeached by the Peruvian Congress on February 17.
Image source: Andina Peruvian News Agency
