Dina Boluarte #

Introduction #

Dina Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, was removed from office by Congress in the early hours of October 10, 2025, in a late-night “moral incapacity” vote called hours after parties from across the political spectrum demanded her impeachment as the nation fought an intensive crime wave. Her fall closed a presidency that had been overshadowed by frequent protests, scandals and investigations, including a corruption inquiry dubbed “Rolexgate” over allegations she accepted Rolex watches as bribes — allegations she has denied. With no vice president to succeed her, Congress President José Jerí was sworn in as interim president, making Boluarte the sixth Peruvian leader since 2018.

Background Information #

Born on May 31, 1962, in Chalhuanca, Apurímac, to a Quechua-speaking peasant family, Boluarte graduated as a lawyer from the University of San Martín de Porres and worked as an officer at Peru’s civil registry, RENIEC, from 2007 until 2022. A former member of the Marxist-led Free Peru party, she served as Pedro Castillo’s first vice president and as minister of development and social inclusion. She rose to the presidency in December 2022, when Castillo was impeached and arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress to avert his own removal. Her tenure was immediately turbulent: within weeks an inquiry was opened into her and key ministers over the deaths of more than 50 Castillo supporters in a crackdown on protests, and her first three months saw more than 500 demonstrations against her rule. By March 2025 her approval had sunk to a historic low, and she was routinely labelled among the world’s most unpopular leaders.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Removal is fact; the corruption allegations are not proven. That Peru’s Congress voted to remove Dina Boluarte from the presidency — 124 votes in favour, on grounds of “moral incapacity” in the early hours of October 10, 2025 — is an accomplished constitutional event, not a claim. The corruption matters surrounding her, by contrast, are allegations from prosecutors and journalists: the “Rolexgate” claim that she accepted Rolex watches as bribes was never adjudicated against her, and she has denied any wrongdoing. Nothing in this section should be read as a finding of personal corruption.

The immediate trigger was public anger over crime. Earlier on Thursday, October 9, a shooting at a concert in Lima inflamed the mood in a country already roiled by gang violence, and legislators voted to accept four requests for a removal vote over what they said was her government’s inability to stem crime. Unlike eight previous attempts to remove her, almost all legislative factions expressed support, including right-wing parties that had historically backed her. Politicians voted late on Thursday to debate her removal on grounds of “moral incapacity” and summoned her to defend herself before Congress at 11:30pm.

She never arrived. Lawmakers had sufficient votes to proceed with a rapid impeachment process shortly after midnight, with 124 voting in favour of removing her. Reporting from Lima, Al Jazeera’s Mariana Sanchez said lawmakers had decided to remove her because she had been “very disrespectful” in not heeding their summons. The corruption probes formed the backdrop rather than the stated grounds: her presidency was overshadowed by several investigations, including “Rolexgate” over allegations she accepted Rolex watches as bribes, and another probing whether she abandoned her post by failing to appoint a caretaker president during an absence for nose surgery. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The response was swift and, by Peruvian standards, unusually consensual. A crowd of protesters brandishing Peruvian flags outside the Congress building erupted in cheers when the vote was declared. “The only way of moving forward is Dina Boluarte’s impeachment,” Congresswoman Susel Paredes had written on X the evening before. Boluarte addressed the nation on television after the vote: “At all times I have called for unity,” she said, adding, “In this context, I had not thought of myself but of the more than 34 million Peruvians who deserve better.” Because Peru has no vice president, Congress President José Jerí was sworn in as interim president early on Friday. Her removal perpetuated the country’s revolving door — six presidents since 2018 — and plunged Peru into what Sanchez called “another political crisis” just six months before the next presidential election; Jerí himself, she noted, has faced rape accusations.

Current Status #

Boluarte left the presidency on October 10, 2025, and was succeeded by José Jerí, with general elections due the following April. The investigations that trailed her presidency, including the “Rolexgate” inquiry, remained unresolved matters of allegation rather than settled findings: she denied any wrongdoing, and nothing in the available reporting records a conviction against her. Among the lawmakers who voted to remove her were factions once loyal to her, including conservative parties that had previously supported her — a measure of how completely her political base had evaporated by the end.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Boluarte’s ouster ended the career of Peru’s first female president less than three years after it began, and it did so through a vote she could not survive despite having outlasted eight previous removal attempts. The record she leaves is dominated by crisis: an impeachment-and-arrest transition into power, deadly protest crackdowns investigated as “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries”, approval ratings between 2 and 4 percent, and scorn over her decision to double her salary to almost 35 times Peru’s monthly minimum wage. The unproven corruption allegations, above all Rolexgate, now shadow any account of her time in office, but her removal rested on the constitutional “moral incapacity” vote over crime and governance, not on a court’s finding of graft. She became the sixth leader since 2018 to exit Peru’s presidency, joining the country’s long line of fallen presidents rather than completing the term she inherited.