Pedro Castillo

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (; born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 to 7 December 2022. After facing obstruction by an opposing Congress of Peru and hostility from the media in Peru throughout his entire presidency, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress through a self-coup on 7 December 2022 while citing Congress' efforts to block his attempted policies, resulting in the legislative body impeaching and removing him from office the same day. Born to a peasant family in Puña, Cajamarca, Castillo began working in Peru's informal economy as a teenager to earn funds for his studies in education and later returned to his hometown to become a primary school teacher. He attained political prominence as a leading figure in a school teachers' strike in 2017 and ran in the 2021 presidential election as the candidate of the Free Peru party. Castillo announced his presidential candidacy after seeing his students undergo hardships from the lack of resources in rural Peru, with the election occurring amidst the country's COVID-19 pandemic and a period of democratic deterioration in the nation. With the support of individuals living in rural and outlying provinces, he placed first in the initial round of the presidential vote and advanced to the second round where he won against his opponent Keiko Fujimori. Castillo's victory in the presidential race was confirmed on 19 July 2021 and he was inaugurated on 28 July. After taking office, Castillo named far-left and moderate left-wing cabinets, due to the influence of Free Peru leader Vladimir Cerrón and other more progressive left-wing politicians. A social conservative, Castillo ultimately began to align his policies with Congress and Evangelical groups on social issues, including his opposition to same-sex marriage, gender studies and sex education. He would leave the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent. In attempts to appease the right-wing Congress, he later appointed members of center and center-right political parties as ministers of state. Castillo was noted for appointing four different governments in six months, a Peruvian record. Congress hindered much of Castillo's presidency and made him face three impeachment proceedings, although the first two failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office.