Celebrations that erupted in Lima over last Friday’s sudden ouster of Peru’s unelected President Dina Boluarte have quickly turned into protests against the Congress that sacked her, and also against her replacement, José Jerí, the Congress president.
Demonstrations were called for both Sunday and Wednesday with the demand “que se vayan todos,” or “throw them all out” being directed at both Jerí and the right-wing majority that controls the Congress.
The Peruvian legislators voted to remove Boluarte from office in the early hours of October 10, citing “permanent moral incapacity.” Out of 130 congressmen, 122 voted in favor of her impeachment, while eight abstained.
Boluarte had the distinction of being the most hated president in Peru’s history. She left office with a 93 percent disapproval rating, including 0 percent approval among young people and in southern Peru, known as “deep Peru.”
Accusations against her included (1) failing to declare luxury items in her assets, (2) indifference to a rising citizen insecurity crisis caused by extortionist mafias, (3) recklessness of duty during critical moments due to travel abroad, (4) allegations of corruption, and (5) political responsibility for the deaths of 49 protesters during demonstrations from January to March 2023.
José Jerí has taken over as Peru’s president just six months before the 2026 elections, marking the third presidency in the 2021-2026 term, following Pedro Castillo, the elected populist president who was overthrown in a legislative coup, and his successor, Boluarte. In a reflection of the increasing ungovernability of a country that, according to some studies, ranks as the fourth most unequal on the planet, Peru has set a record of eight presidents in ten years, averaging one year and three months—that is 25 percent of the five-year presidential term.
Jerí, a member of the Somos Perú party, comes into office facing charges of rape and graft. His appointment appears aimed at controlling the upcoming elections and quelling ongoing strikes and protests that threaten the power of big banks, mining corporations and businesses.
The rising class struggle has caused unease among the bourgeoisie, prompting Congress members from all parties to sacrifice Boluarte in a bid to win back public support from those who oppose her.
Significantly, Jerí’s first official action as president was to meet with the commanders of Peru’s armed forces and police. Ostensibly called to organize a law-and-order crackdown on street crime, the meeting underscored the role of the security forces as the ultimate arbiter of political life, crucial to enforcing the anti-working class program of the Peruvian ruling class.
Recent events have highlighted mounting unrest in Peru, including a two-week strike in September involving 60,000 doctors, nurses and technicians from EsSalud, as well as thirteen 24-hour strikes by urban transport unions in Lima and the seaport of Callao.
These protests in the public transport sector, combined with the EsSalud strike and the so-called “Gen Z” marches of youth, have raised concerns among the bourgeoisie and the corrupt politicians entrenched in Congress.
The bourgeoisie fears that continued large-scale strikes and demonstrations could have dire consequences for its profit interests. The sacrifice of Boluarte appeared to have some of its desired effect, at least with the leadership of the employer-dominated transportation unions, which called off an October 15 strike. The “Gen Z” group, however, said it would go ahead with its protests.
Essentially, power remains in the hands of corrupt, right-wing factions operating through Congress. Boluarte acted primarily as a figurehead in the executive branch. In reality, the effective power lies with two mafia-like parties linked to criminal activities: Fuerza Popular (FP), led by Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of deceased President Alberto Fujimori (in office from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000), and Alianza Para el Progreso (APP) founded by César Acuña, who made his fortune from privatization of education, along with their allied parties, such as Renovación Popular, Podemos, Peru Libre, and Avanza País.
The right-wing parties that supported Boluarte in Congress withdrew their backing with an eye on the 2026 election.
The mainstream media suggested that an armed attack during an Agua Marina concert in Chorrillos, which injured five people, triggered the end of Boluarte’s government, highlighting her inability to manage the crisis. However, this view oversimplifies the larger context of widespread strikes and protests by workers and the youth, known as Generation Z. Moreover, the near unanimous vote to oust her was almost certainly coordinated in advance, with the shooting merely providing a convenient pretext.
Another theory claims Boluarte’s dismissal followed the replacement of 14 senior military commanders, raising suspicions of a coup attempt. She will be remembered for authorizing police and military action that resulted in 49 deaths during protests after the December 7, 2022, CIA-backed coup that ousted democratically elected President Pedro Castillo.
A trial may be initiated against Boluarte, similar to the trial that resulted in a 25-year sentence for Fujimori. Fujimori was convicted of crimes against humanity for ordering paramilitary massacres, including the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta University incidents, where teachers and students were killed. Seven out of the eight Peruvian presidents since 1990 have been jailed or faced detention orders.
Boluarte’s exit deepens Peru’s institutional instability, with a new president under investigation and widespread public dissatisfaction towards both the executive and legislative branches. The demand for justice for the wave of murders during Boluarte’s administration will continue.
Future struggles will pit José Jerí’s narco-criminal coalition government against the working class, peasants and youth, and the 9.4 million Peruvians living in poverty.
Labor leaders also fear an uprising of the working class and most likely will push for granting Jerí a grace period, as this would allow corrupt elements to solidify their influence in the new government.
For his part, Jerí appears bent on pursuing the so-called “Bukele solution,” aping the hardline repression of El Salvador’s president. On Saturday he joined prison officials on a surprise search of cells at the Ancón 1 prison, after which the inmates were crowded together on the floor with their hands clasped behind their necks in an apparent imitation of similar scenes stated at El Salvador’s infamous CECOT mega-jail.
Somos Peru is a political party of the center-right founded by the late former mayor of Lima, Alberto Andrade. Since 2023, it has governed 7 of the 25 departments in Peru: Cajamarca, Cusco, Lambayeque, Loreto, Moquegua, Jerí, and San Martín.
The crisis of “democracy” in Peru is not exclusively national. It is part of the shift by billionaire elites and global corporations toward authoritarianism, internal repression, and the preparation of the government of would-be Führer Donald Trump to declare war on Russia and China.
Peru’s 1993 Constitution, an extremely reactionary charter that favors privatization and transnational corporations, while destroying the democratic rights of the working class, has been ignored by the current Congress, which has been passing laws that favor organized crime, the mining transnationals, banking, foreign capital, and agro-export business groups.
José Jerí is a creature of this system and of the popularly hated Congress dominated by right-wing reaction, linking the national bourgeoisie with lumpen figures and corrupt congressmen tied to organized crime. There is not the slightest will in this body to repeal the laws that have promoted insecurity and extortion, and the reign of criminal organizations. In other words, the “war” on crime announced by the new interim president is false and cynical.
José Jerí’s government faces overwhelming public opposition, similar to that of his predecessor, Boluarte. Despite the union leadership’s willingness to call a truce, planned protests will challenge the new government’s authority, as it does not represent the majority’s democratic aspirations.
The national bourgeoisie is terrified that the conciliatory program pushed by trade union leaders will lead to a more militant leadership of the working class. As the strikes continued to escalate, workers began to raise questions that could jeopardize the rule of the bourgeoisie. One new slogan appeared on the marches, calling for the creation of armed defense committees to safeguard working-class districts from the extortionist mafias.
The rejection of all parties participating in the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for April 2026, is a positive sign that workers, peasants, and especially the youth are seeking a different kind of leadership. The program proposed by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) aligns with the needs of the oppressed masses in Peru and internationally. It fights for:
1. The political independence for the working class—from all bourgeois parties and the corrupt leaders in trade unions and their pseudo-left satellites.
2. The international working class—objectively, workers around the world are already united and collaborating within supply chains that cross national borders and oceans.
3. A socialist program to bring all of the major banks and corporations under public ownership under an economic plan led by the working class, putting an end to production for profit, which is the root of social inequality, and prioritizing the needs of the working class and the entire population.
To implement these proposals, a Peruvian section of the ICFI must be established.