LOC02:25
23:25 GMT
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (KUNA) -- Peru's President Pedro Castillo was impeached Wednesday by the Congress and former Vice President Dina Boluarte sworn in to become the country's first female president.
Later security forces arrested Castillo and the Congress declared Bolurate Peru's sixth president.
After taking oath, Boluarte said she would govern until July 2026, which is when Castillo's presidency would have ended.
"What I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country," she said.
The dramatic day began when then-President Castillo announced plans to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government, ahead of a looming impeachment vote by lawmakers.
Boluarte herself criticized Castillo's dissolution plan, describing it on Twitter as "a coup that aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will have to overcome with strict adherence to the law".
Peru has been going through a rocky political period, with multiple presidents ousted from office in recent years. In 2020, it had three presidents within the space of five days.
Castillo, who is a left-wing former school teacher, was elected in June 2021 in a polarizing election in which he defeated his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori.
He had recently been fighting allegations of corruption, which he said were part of a plot to oust him. (end)
asj.ibi