Peru’s Congress ousts interim President José Jerí
The political trigger was a leaked video showing Jerí entering a closed Chinese restaurant in Lima at night, his face partially covered, to meet Zhihua Yang, a businessman with commercial interests
Peru’s Congress voted on Tuesday to remove interim President José Jerí, just four months after he took office, deepening political uncertainty only weeks before the April 12 general election.
Lawmakers backed the motion by 75 votes to 24, with three abstentions, according to the official count aired during the session.
Jerí, a 39-year-old lawyer linked to the Somos Perú bloc, became president in October 2025 after Dina Boluarte was forced out. His downfall was driven by a scandal dubbed “Chifagate,” after footage and reporting pointed to unrecorded meetings with Chinese businessmen inside and outside the presidential palace.
Ahead of the debate, Jerí denied any wrongdoing and described the affair as procedural “mistakes.” In recent weeks, he said the meetings were tied to cultural arrangements, but Congress and prosecutors moved to scrutinize the contacts as a possible corruption and influence-peddling case.
The political trigger was a leaked video showing Jerí entering a closed Chinese restaurant in Lima at night, his face partially covered, to meet Zhihua Yang, a businessman with commercial interests and ties to government contracting. Parliamentary inquiries also highlighted Ji Wu Xiaodong, another Chinese national under investigation for alleged illegal logging, who—according to media reports and official inquiries—visited the palace despite court-imposed restrictions.
The floor debate unfolded amid election-season maneuvering by blocs seeking leverage ahead of the vote. During the session, lawmaker Hamlet Echeverría, one of the motion’s sponsors, accused Jerí of wielding power “clandestinely” and said Congress was not weighing “mistakes, but alleged crimes,” according to remarks cited in local coverage.
With Jerí removed, the succession now shifts back to Congress: the head of the legislature is expected to assume the presidency until July 28, when the elected winner is due to be sworn in. However, current congressional leader Fernando Rospigliosi declined to take the post, forcing lawmakers to pick an alternative caretaker in the coming hours.
