He was elected president in Peru, advocating nationalization; overthrown by civil coup: Who is Pedro Castillo?

The attempt by Pedro Castillo, a former union leader, whom the right wing has tried to overthrow since he was elected president in Peru, to try to get rid of the attacks by putting a coup d'état in parliament backfired.

After Castillo announced that he would dissolve the Congress and form a government of emergency and call for early elections, the Congress dismissed the President. Former Deputy Dina Boluarte was brought in place of Castillo, who was arrested and put in prison.

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, a former elementary school teacher, and a union leader who served as the 63rd president of Peru from 28 July 2021 to 7 December 2022, having won the 2021 Peruvian general election. On 7 December 2022, he was impeached and removed from office by the Congress of Peru after attempting to dissolve it.

Instead of calling for elections, Boluarte called for a government of reconciliation and national unity. Upon Castillo's dismissal, his supporters took to the streets to protest the decision and demand early elections. It was learned that there were occasional clashes with right-wing groups.

Castillo, who was given a no-confidence motion three times in 17 months, had stated the night before that he respected democracy and that he would go to Congress to face the impeachment process, which was brought to the agenda for the fourth time. The motion of no confidence called for Castillo's dismissal on the grounds of "permanent moral incompetence."

VICE PRESIDENT WAS

Pedro Castillo's Deputy Dina Boluarte was appointed President. Boluarte took the oath of office in Congress. "I swear on behalf of God, country, and all Peruvians that I will faithfully carry out the office of president and defend Peru's Constitution until July 26, 2026," said Boluarte.

Accusing Castillo of the coup attempt, Boluarte said, "My first job is to call all Peruvians to unity in the most comprehensive way. I call for a broad dialogue between all political forces,” she said. "I demand a political ceasefire for the establishment of a national unity government," said Boluarte, adding that he would form a national unity government.

WHO IS PEDRO CASTILLO?

Primary School Teacher Pedro Castillo, 52, from the Cajamarca region of Peru, became a prominent figure in the 75-day teacher strikes that affected the country in 2017. In October 2020, he entered politics as a presidential candidate with Free Peru (Peru Libre/PL) Party.

He started his political career with the mayoral candidacy in 2002 and was unsuccessful in that election.

Castillo made a name for himself nationwide with his successful strike in 2017, demanding wage increases from thousands of teachers.

Village Teacher and Unionist Pedro Castillo had a turbulent presidency. From the beginning, he faced attempts to impeach him by the parliamentary right, a bloc dominated by the far right.

In the first round of the 2021 election, Castillo advanced to the second round with 19 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating the far-right Keiko Fujimori, daughter of Peru's former dictator Alberto Fujimori, in the second round. He was Andean, and many of the historically marginalized groups identified with him and saw him as one of their own, thus achieving the presidency.

Although Pedro Castillo denies he is a communist, he won the June 2021 elections as the candidate of the Peru Libre/Free Peru (PL) party, which describes himself as a Marxist-Leninist. His government began as a left front joined by other left factions outside the PL. However, there were internal divisions in the alliance and within about six months after the election, the front disintegrated. Castillo left PL in June 2022 and continued his duty as independent president.