Dina Boluarte

Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra ( ; born 31 May 1962) is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer currently serving as the President of Peru since 7 December 2022. She had served as the first vice president and minister at the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion under President Pedro Castillo. Before then, she served as an officer at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC) from 2007 until 2022. With Boluarte assuming the presidency as the sole vice president, President of Congress Alejandro Soto Reyes is next in the line of succession. Boluarte is the first woman to become President of Peru. Initially a member of Free Peru, she was sworn in following President Pedro Castillo's attempt to dissolve Congress, citing the legislature's obstruction of his government, which resulted in his impeachment, ousting, and arrest. Her presidency comes during a period of political turmoil in Peru that began in 2017, as she is the sixth president in five years. She would quickly receive support from right-wing groups and the media organizations in Peru due to her support for conservatism and the existing economic model. Boluarte created a coalition with the majority right-wing Congress of Peru, which had lost but not conceded the 2021 Peruvian general election, and the Peruvian Armed Forces, raising concerns about a civilian-military government forming. 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 the Boluarte administration was undergoing democratic backsliding and heading towards authoritarianism while her government's crackdown of protests resulted with Freedom House moving Peru from "Free" to "Partly free" in the 2023 Freedom in the World. Boluarte praised the armed forces despite their violent actions and said that though she was the commander-in-chief of the military, she had no control over their decisions. Attorney General of Peru Patricia Benavides announced investigations on 10 January 2023 to determine if Boluarte, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, Minister of the Interior Víctor Rojas, and Minister of Defense Jorge Chávez committed genocide and aggravated homicide. Groups in Congress opposed to Boluarte opened an impeachment motion against her on 25 January 2023, citing moral incapacity.