Dina Boluarte
Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer who served as the president of Peru from 7 December 2022 until she was removed from office on 10 October 2025. She had previously served as the first vice president and minister at the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion under President Pedro Castillo. She served as an officer at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status from 2007 until 2022.
Boluarte is the first woman to become President of Peru. She was a member of the Free Peru but never fully embraced the party's Marxism–Leninism, and was sworn in following Castillo's attempt to dissolve Congress and subsequent impeachment and arrest. Boluarte aligned herself with the right-wing majority of the Peruvian Congress, and received support from the Peruvian Armed Forces. Boluarte's use of military and the police against protestors has been controversial. During her first months as president, protests against her government emerged across Peru, during which authorities perpetrated the Ayacucho massacre and Juliaca massacre. Analysts said that Boluarte's crackdown on protestors has undermined democracy. Despite international concerns, Boluarte praised the actions of the armed forces.
On 10 January 2023, Attorney General of Peru Patricia Benavides announced she was opening an investigation to determine if Boluarte and members of her government committed genocide and aggravated homicide. Boluarte described these investigations as lawfare, and Benavides was later dismissed. Boluarte again avoided impeachment following a bribery scandal, nicknamed "Rolexgate", in 2025.
Despite describing herself as a "progressive and moderate leftist", observers labeled Boluarte's administration as conservative, opportunistic, and illiberal. She became chronically unpopular, with a historic low of 2% approval as of 2025. As such, she was labeled "the world's least popular leader", or the "most unpopular leader in the world". On 10 October 2025, Boluarte was impeached and removed from office by the Peruvian Congress in a 122–0 vote amidst a security crisis and renewed civil unrest against her rule. She was succeeded as President of Peru by José Jerí, the president of Congress.
Early life and education
Boluarte was born in a Quechua-speaking peasant family, in the village of Chalhuanca, Apurímac, on 31 May 1962. She graduated as a lawyer from the University of San Martín de Porres and later did postgraduate studies at the university. Her upbringing in poverty has not shielded her from accusations of exploiting her indigenous roots for political gain.Early career
In 2004, Boluarte co-authored a book, The Recognition of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, which was later investigated for plagiarism after 55% of the text included was marked as plagiarized from a 2002 post on the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico's website according to Turnitin software. She has worked at National Registry of Identification and Civil Status as an attorney and officer since 2007. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Lima's Surquillo district in 2018, representing the Free Peru party. She also participated in the extraordinary parliamentary elections in 2020 for Free Peru, though she did not obtain a congressional seat.Vice presidency (2021–2022)
Election
In the 2021 presidential election, Boluarte was part of the presidential ticket of Pedro Castillo, which was victorious in the run-off. During the campaign, Boluarte was widely viewed to position herself more moderately than Castillo, saying that she would not support overriding the Constitutional Court of Peru, but still stated "the wealthy middle class of Lima will surely cease to be a wealthy middle class". Boluarte also said that if Castillo were to be removed from office, she would resign in support of him. While campaigning in Piura, Diario Correo reported on counter-terrorism police documents that alleged Boluarte was seen working beside members of MOVADEF, an alleged arm of Shining Path.Conflicts with Free Peru
On 29 July 2021, Boluarte was appointed minister of Development and Social Inclusion in the government of Castillo. On 23 January 2022, during an interview with La República, Boluarte stated that she never embraced the ideology of Free Peru. The party's general secretary, Vladimir Cerrón, subsequently expelled Boluarte from Free Peru and posted on Twitter, "Always loyal, traitors never". Cerrón also claimed that Boluarte's comment threatened party unity. Party members later requested her expulsion, stating Boluarte "does nothing more than create division and discredit the image" of Cerrón.On 25 November 2022, Boluarte resigned from her position as the minister of Development and Social Inclusion, but remained as first vice president. On 5 December 2022, after voting 13 in favor and 8 against, a constitutional complaint was filed by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations against Boluarte, alleging that she operated a private club named the Apurímac Club while she was minister of Development.
Presidency (2022–2025)
Inauguration
On 7 December 2022, during the Peruvian political crisis, after Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve the Congress of the Republic of Peru during impeachment proceedings against him, Boluarte condemned the move as a "breakdown of the constitutional order" and assumed the presidency after the impeachment of Castillo. Boluarte thus became Peru's first female president. Boluarte's presidency was the most recent instance in Peruvian history where the first vice president succeeded a president who could no longer serve, after First Vice President Martín Vizcarra became president upon the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018. Peru had seven presidents from 2015 to 2022.In her first speech to the Congress, she denounced President Castillo and declared her will to form a national unity government to resolve the present political crisis. In the formation of her government, she consulted all the major parties, but selected no members of Congress. Instead she formed what was widely viewed as a technocratic government led by Pedro Angulo Arana, an attorney who faced 13 criminal investigations as of his appointment in December 2022, including abuse of authority, abuse of public administration, abuse of public faith, blackmail, extortion and others. Observers commented that with growing protests and an undefined support base, Boluarte's government would likely not be given the space, either by Congress or the people, to succeed.
Recognition
International recognition of Boluarte's government has been mixed. Members of the São Paulo Forum like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gabriel Boric of Chile recognize Boluarte. The United States has recognized Boluarte as president. Spain was also in support, championing a return to "constitutional order." Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela supported Pedro Castillo as the President of Peru following the events in December 2022 and refused to recognize Boluarte. The issue of international recognition soon after became irrelevant as she received recognition as the legitimate president from most international leaders.Protests
According to CNN, the Boluarte government "has responded to protesters with both stick and carrot; President Boluarte has offered the possibility of holding early elections, while her Defense Minister Luis Alberto Otárola... declared a state of emergency and deployed troops to the street." The New York Times would describe Boluarte's response as "hawkish". On 12 December, following protests that broke out after the removal of Pedro Castillo, President Boluarte announced that she and Congress agreed to move the next general election from April 2024 to April 2026. On 14 December, Alberto Otárola, Boluarte's defense minister, declared a state of emergency for 30 days to quell "acts of violence and vandalism."Responding to protests, Boluarte said she does not understand why anyone would protest against her and supported the repressive response of authorities. Boluarte's response has been widely condemned by NGOs, while being supported by more right-leaning parties in Congress. Amnesty International's Americas head Erika Guevara-Rosas called for governmental restraint, saying: "State repression against protesters is only deepening the crisis in Peru." Protests have for the most part, been the most fierce and disruptive in Quechua majority regions, the center of Castillo's support. Given the harshness of the Boluarte government's response, this has led some to draw comparison between Boluarte's actions and that of previous anti-Native governments of Peru, which drew comparisons between indigenous groups and the Shining Path, as to persecute them. Boluarte would also state that the demonstrations occurred due to blackmail and provocations by Bolivian officials, something the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said they did not observe while The New York Times said that "The government has yet to provide clear evidence to back up... claims of high-level coordination by a terrorist organization or illicit funding behind the violent attacks."
The government appointed ex-colonel Juan Carlos Liendo to head the National Intelligence Service, who claimed that the demonstrations in the country were not social in nature but part of a "terrorist insurrection. This appointment comes as a surprise, since Juan Carlos Liendo is close to right-wing political groups and claimed that the government of Pedro Castillo, to which Dina Boluarte belonged, was an "extension of the terrorist group Shining Path. In a joint statement in January 2023, over 2,000 academics and researchers expressed their "strongest rejection of the authoritarian course that the government of Dina Boluarte and Alberto Otárola" and believed "that these are not isolated events but a pattern of conduct that places us in a dangerous transition to authoritarianism", concluding that "If President Boluarte is only able to offer the country confrontation and violence, she should resign". Notable signers included Steven Levitsky, Lucía Dammert, Martín Tanaka, Daniel Alarcón, Josep Joan Moreso, Gerardo L. Munck, Mirtha Vásquez, Sara Beatriz Guardia and Carmen Mc Evoy.
Amnesty International reported in May 2023 that Boluarte "consistently supported and justified the actions of law enforcement agencies, despite increasingly clear evidence of their unlawful actions" and that her government "stigmatized protesters as terrorists and violent, contributing to the escalation of violence and encouraging law enforcement to continue to act in the same way". Boluarte would respond to criticism saying that she did not have control of the Peruvian Armed Forces. Since at least December 2022, opposition protesters often chant the slogan Dina asesina and even sing a song of the same name. Moreover, social and political opponents have nicknamed her "Dina Balearte" as a reference to aforementioned deaths.