Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was removed from power by parliament voting for trying to fulfill his campaign promise of constitutional reform. The amendments made the country more resistant to political crises, and the United States could not like this.
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was arrested on Wednesday after the parliament removed him from office after attempting to dismiss lawmakers for "abuse of authority." On Tuesday, Castillo announced a state of emergency and elections of the constituent assembly to launch a referendum on the new Constitution.
Peruvian MPs accused the head of the executive branch of attempted coup and successfully completed the third impeachment attempt against the president in 18 months on claims of his "permanent moral incapacity."
Permanent moral incapacity is a clause that was included in the Peruvian Constitution over 180 years ago. Experts believe that the clause "has no objective definition." In the 19th century, the concept meant "madness", but now it also involves charges of corruption.
The armed forces and Catholic bishops refused to support the popularly elected president. Castillo was thus charged with corruption and plagiarism on five counts, and then with incitement of insurrection. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Castillo's impeachment was approved by 101 votes out of 130 deputies in the unicameral parliament. Vice President Dina Boluarte was appointed Interim President. She will serve as President until Castillo's term expires on July 26, 2026.
According to social media, even Castillo's supporters betrayed him — members of the Peru Libre Party (37 MPs) and most of resigned ministers. As a matter of fact, Castillo broke up with the party in June. He would also change ministers like socks due to the clash of views.
Of course, his demarche to dissolve parliament was based on hopes of popular support.
After winning the presidential election 18 months ago, rural teacher Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones faced opposition from the parliament majority. The government also worked to militate against his initiatives. They were such initiatives as:
Amendments to the Constitution provided, among other things, exclusion of "moral incapacity" as a basis for removing the president from power, as well as exclusion of the provision for a vote of confidence in parliament to impeach him.
This would have taken Peru out of the crisis that the country has been experiencing since 2016 with five presidents in office in eight years. The United States did not want that to happen.
The United States recognised the new president immediately and supported Castillo's impeachment.
A US State Department spokesman said that the government was "celebrating" Boluarte's appointment. In addition, the White House praised Peru's civilian institutions and authorities for "ensuring democratic stability."
Venezuelan National Constitutional Assembly President Diosdado Cabello accused the United States of supporting Castillo's impeachment.
"They just staged a coup for the Peruvian president. They had a statement and everything else prepared in advance, and the vice president was just waiting," Cabello said in a personal program on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
More than 86 percent of respondents do not approve of the work of the Parliament of Peru, Cabello stressed, but the world would support the "staged show", he added.
"The world will say nothing, everyone will remain silent. This is another coup instigated by the United States. This is an official attack against the advancement of the left forces in Latin America, this is the onset of a real war with the use of tricks and lies," he said.
Mexican MP Gerardo Fernandez Noronha of the Labor Party also accused the United States of being behind the coup in Peru.
In his social media account, Noronha said that the United States was overthrowing legitimate governments.
"First there's a law against Cristina Fernandez, now there's a coup against Pedro Castillo, the legitimate president of Peru. The right forces and the United States government resume their attack on popular governments,” Noronha said.
The MP urged compatriots to be vigilant — now "they will come" for the Mexican government and president, he warned.
Peru's impeachment did not find universally approval in the region.
Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador accused the country's "economic and political elite" of forcing Castillo to making the decisions that led to his resignation. Mexico announced its readiness to grant political asylum to Castillo.
The government of Bolivian President Luis Arce said at the Organisation of American States (OAS) that they did not accept Castillo's impeachment.
The Bolivians recalled a similar case in their country and condemned the OAS for misjudging the situation "for the second time."
In Bolivia, Evo Morales won the 2019 presidential election, but was accused of falsifying the vote count and received political asylum in Mexico. However, his party representative Luis Arce won the next election, and Morales returned to Bolivia with charges dropped.
Corruption charges are used as a common pretext for coups in Latin America. Soros institutions seek any legislative loopholes, and bribed judges bring down sentences for the purpose.
Brazilian President José Inacio Lula da Silva and his successor Dilma Rousseff also suffered from this tactic. A verdict was passed against Cristina Kirchner, the sitting Vice President of Argentina.
Lula was subsequently acquitted, which gave him an opportunity to win the recent election.
Castillo was hoping for the support of the people. Protests are underway in Lima, and protesters are pushing for an early general election.
The experience of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil shows that times are changing, and people return popular politicians to their offices. The disappointment in neoliberal economy has been growing, and the USA will not be able to do anything about it. Washington will eventually lose an opportunity to install its own puppet leaders in different countries of the region.