Peru's VP Boluarte sworn in as Prez after Pedro removed from office

LIMA [PERU]: Peru's Vice President Dina Boluarte has been sworn in as the new President after former President Pedro Castillo was impeached on Wednesday, CNN reported.

On Wednesday, Peru's Congress voted to remove President Pedro Castillo from office.

In her first speech to lawmakers, Dina Boluarte criticised former Peru President Pedro Castillo for the decision to dissolve the legislature on Wednesday.

Boluarte urged lawmakers for a political truce to form a "unity government" and stressed that she will call for a wider dialogue to govern.

"We had an attempted coup d'etat that did not echo in our democratic institutions and on the streets," CNN quoted Dina Boluarte as saying. The decision of the Congress came shortly after Pedro Castillo announced that he would dissolve the legislature and install an emergency government. Police has detained Pedro Castillo in Lima, CNN reported citing a source with knowledge of the case.

A majority of 101 members in Peru's 130-person Congress voted to impeach Castillo on Wednesday. Notably, Pedro Castillo was elected as Peru's President in July 2021. He faces five preliminary criminal investigations on allegations of 'masterminding corruption schemes' while in office, as per the CNN report.

Peru's Constitutional Court President Francisco Morales called on Vice President Dina Boluarte to assume the presidency in a speech before the congressional vote, according to CNN. Before the congressional impeachment vote, Boluarte rejected Castillo's legislature dissolution plan.

Dina Boluarte on Twitter wrote, "I reject Pedro Castillo's decision to perpetrate the breakdown of the constitutional order with the closure of Congress. It is a coup that aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will have to overcome with strict adherence to the law," as per the CNN report.

Seven cabinet ministers, including Minister of Environment Wilbert Rozas, Finance Minister Kurt Burneo, Foreign Relations Minister Cesar Landa, and Justice Minister Felix Cher have resigned from their posts.

The United States had rejected Castillo's plan to dissolve Congress. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, "We will continue to stand against and to categorically reject any acts that contradict Peru's constitution, any act that undermines democracy in that country."