Dina Boluarte scandal Rolex case. Image: HispanTV
By María Josefina Arce
Peru lives from crisis to crisis. Now a new scandal shakes the government of the self-proclaimed president Dina Boluarte, who is precisely the protagonist of a case of possible illicit enrichment and failure to record statements in public documents.
In the last days, the police and the Prosecutor's Office raided the president's house and the government headquarters, as part of an investigation for some high range watches that she had not declared as part of her assets.
Should she be formally charged, Boluarte can only be tried when her term ends in July 2026, although she could face a new vacancy request.
In fact, legislators from Peru Libre and other political parties presented this recourse of impeachment for permanent moral incapacity of the president to the Congress Major Office.
Experts point out that it is difficult for the process to move forward in the legislative body, since if Boluarte resigns or is removed from office, all the congressmen would cease to be members of Congress, since general elections would have to be called.
This is not the only vacancy motion that Boluarte has faced since he came to power in December 2022, following the impeachment by Congress and imprisonment of then President Pedro Castillo, elected at the polls in June 2021 by more than 50% of Peruvians.
In January of last year, the bench of several political parties presented this appeal, for his responsibility in the deaths registered in the Peruvian territory during the protests that demanded his resignation and that were brutally repressed. However, the debate in Congress did not prosper.
According to investigations, of the 60 deaths, 48 were caused by police or military firing with live ammunition or rubber bullets.
The current situation adds a new element to the political instability in the Andean nation, which in early March saw the resignation of then Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, accused of facilitating the signing of a contract by his ex-partner with the state.
Now the motion of confidence is at risk, which is scheduled for April 3 in the legislative body of the cabinet of the new head of government Gustavo Adrianzén.
Peru has been immersed for years in a political crisis, which has worsened under Boluarte's mandate and which seems to have no end, given his insistence that he will not resign, even though he barely has 10% of acceptance among Peruvians.
