Pedro Castillo

After taking office, Castillo played in between naming far-left and moderate left-wing cabinets, allegedly under the strong influence of the leader of his party, Vladimir Cerrón, and at the same time from more progressive left-wing politicians. He also appointed members of center and center-right political parties as ministers of state. He ultimately left the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent. Castillo was noted for appointing four different governments in six months, the most in Peruvian history in such a timespan.

Castillo faced three impeachment proceedings in the Peruvian Congress, although the first two failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office. Following the second failed impeachment vote in March 2022, protests took place across the courty against high fuel and fertiliser prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Mining protests also intensified as the country's economy plummeted. On 1 December 2022, Peru's Congress approved a motion initiated by opposition lawmakers to start the third formal attempt to impeach him since he took office. On 7 December, Castillo made a declaration in which he attempted to dissolve Congress, form a provisional government, institute a national curfew, and call for the formation of an assembly to draft a new constitution. The announcement was condemned by many as a coup attempt. Castillo was impeached by Congress within the day and was detained for sedition and high treason. He was succeeded by First Vice President Dina Boluarte. After his removal, pro-Castillo protests broke out calling for new elections and the release of Castillo from detention.

In April 2022, Free Peru drafted a bill calling for general elections in 2023 to elect a new president and congress.

After Castillo's aquittal of the second impeachment attempt against him in February 2022, global economic reverberations resulted from international sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation in Peru rose sharply, prompting protests. By April 2022, the inflation rate in Peru rose to its highest level in 26 years, creating greater difficulties for the recently impoverished population. Inflation of basic goods, alongside increasing fertilizer and fuel prices as a result of the war, angered rural Peruvians, and shifted them from their position of supporting Castillo to protesting his government. According to Convoca, UGTRANM leader Diez Villegas, the same individual who attempted to organize strikes in October 2021, called for a general strike of transportation workers for 4 April 2022. These strikes later expanded, culminating with the 2022 Peruvian protests.

During a January 2022 interview with CNN en Español, Castillo said that he would consult for a plebiscite in order to grant Bolivia access to the sea. Castillo's remarks received both positive and negative reactions in Peru. In June 2022, Castillo convened the leaders of different South American nations to treat the Venezuelan migrant crisis, with Peru being home to 1.3 million Venezuelans that fled following the crisis in Venezuela.

Congress has banned him from travelling to Colombia for the inauguration of the new president, Gustavo Petro, scheduled for August 7, 2022. According to Peruvian law, the president must have the authorization of Congress every time he wants to travel abroad. He is also denied permission to travel to the Vatican to meet with the Pope, to Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and to Mexico for a meeting of the Pacific Alliance at the end of November. The latter was cancelled and rescheduled for December 14 in Lima.

In February 2022, it was reported that Fujimorists and politicians close to Fujimori organized a meeting at the Casa Andina hotel in Lima with the assistance of the German liberal group Friedrich Naumann Foundation, with those present including Maricarmen Alva, President of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, discussing plans to remove President Castillo from office. Alva had already shared her readiness to assume the presidency of Peru if Castillo were to be vacated from the position and a leaked Telegram group chat of the Board of Directors of Congress that she heads revealed plans coordinated to oust Castillo. A second impeachment attempt related to corruption allegations did make it to proceedings in March 2022. On 28 March 2022, Castillo appeared before Congress calling the allegations baseless and for legislators to "vote for democracy" and "against instability", with 55 voting for impeachment, 54 voting against, and 19 abstaining, not reaching the 87 votes necessary for impeaching Castillo.

In July 2022, a fifth inquest was launched into Castillo's alleged involvement in corruption.

On 7 December 2022, hours before the Congress of Peru was scheduled to vote on a third impeachment motion against him, Castillo declared an immediate national curfew, the dissolution of Congress, and the installation of a "government of exceptional emergency." Shortly after his announcement, a majority of Castillo's cabinet resigned, and the attempted dissolution was denounced as a coup by the Ombudsman of Peru. The Constitutional Court and First Vice President Dina Boluarte also called it a coup d'état attempt, one meant to obstruct the impeachment process. Castillo was then impeached and removed from the presidency by the Congress of Peru later on 7 December, as scheduled. The impeachment passed with a majority 101 for and 6 against out of 130 votes. Boluarte, who had broken with Castillo after the announcement, ascended to the presidency. Castillo reportedly attempted to flee the country but was held and detained by the National Police.

After winning the first round of presidential elections, Castillo presented his ideas in a more moderated manner, maintaining a balance between the leftist ideals of Free Peru and the consensus of Peruvians. Following his ascent to the presidency, Free Peru broke from Castillo, who distanced himself from Vladimir Cerrón, believing that he moderated his positions to appease businesses and opposing politicians. On 30 June 2022, Castillo resigned from Free Peru.

At a bilateral meeting with president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro on 3 February 2022, Castillo was seen embracing him. Bolsonaro, who wore Castillo's straw chotano hat, said Castillo was a defender of freedom and "conservative values". Bolsonaro and Castillo also discussed a proposed highway through the Amazon rainforest, the removal of bureaucratic trade regulations, and increased drug trade monitoring.

Born to a peasant family in Puña, Cajamarca, Castillo began working in Peru's informal economy as a teenager to earn funds for his studies in education and later returned to his hometown to become a primary school teacher. He attained political prominence as a leading figure in a school teachers' strike in 2017 and ran in the 2021 presidential election as the candidate of the Free Peru party. Castillo announced his presidential candidacy after seeing his students undergo hardships from the lack of resources in rural Peru, with the election occurring amidst the country's COVID-19 pandemic and a period of democratic deterioration in the nation. With the support of individuals living in rural and outlying provinces, he placed first in the initial round of the presidential vote and advanced to the second round where he won against his opponent Keiko Fujimori. Castillo's victory in the presidential race was confirmed on 19 July 2021 and he was inaugurated on 28 July.

The 2021 presidential elections occurred amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru and a political crisis in the nation that continued during the election. These crises created multiple political currents that eventually consolidated into a growing political polarization among Peruvians.

Castillo was officially designated as president-elect of Peru on 19 July 2021, only a week before he was to be inaugurated. Days before his designation, Castillo and his economic advisor Pedro Francke met with Ambassador Liang Yu at the Chinese embassy in Peru to discuss a more rapid introduction of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines in Peru. The majority of ministers chosen by Castillo were from interior regions in contrast to previous governments where most ministers originated from Lima. Ministers were mainly from allied leftist and independent organizations, while three ministers were from Free Peru and another three were previous teachers close to Castillo.

In September 2021, Castillo announced funding of 99 million soles (US$24 million) to provide food for impoverished families, stating: "We cannot understand that, despite having so much wealth in the country, it is not balanced with development." As announced during his campaign, he launched an agrarian reform in October 2021, which he promises will not involve expropriations. It includes an industrialization plan for peasants to promote the development of agriculture, and intends to offer poor peasants fairer access to markets. Following the death of Abimael Guzmán, the founder of Shining Path, Castillo said his government's "condemnation of terrorism is firm" and he condemned Guzmán, saying he was "responsible for the loss of innumerable lives of our compatriots".

In November 2021, Castillo announced an increase in the minimum wage from 930 to 1,000 sols ($223 to $250), the sale of the presidential jet acquired in 1995, and a ban on first-class travel for all civil servants. That month, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru reported that from July through September 2021 Peru's GDP grew by 11.4% and beat previous expectations, with Bloomberg News saying Peru experienced the fastest growing economy among Latin American nations at the time. The International Monetary Fund supported tax increases on the mining sector, reporting in December 2021 that Peru could safely increase taxes since the country had "a tax burden that is lower or similar to other resource-rich countries".

Héctor Béjar, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Peru would no longer support international sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis and did not clarify his position on recognizing Juan Guaidó as part of the Venezuelan presidential crisis. Béjar resigned on 17 August 2021, amid criticism from the opposition and some media over his statement that Peru's navy had been responsible for terrorist acts and that the CIA had created the Shining Path. During his first Foreign Relations Commission with Congress, Castillo's second foreign minister Óscar Maúrtua said that Peru would remain a member of the Andean Community, the Pacific Alliance, and PROSUR, saying that Castillo's government held the "objective of achieving South American integration, for the benefit of our peoples", while also offering refuge to Afghan refugees following the Fall of Kabul.

For his first international trips, Castillo traveled to Mexico on 17 September 2021 and later to the United States on 19 September. During his tour in the United States, Castillo and economic minister Pedro Francke met with foreign investors, along with representatives from the United States Chamber of Commerce, Pfizer, and Microsoft. Some of Peru's largest investors, such as Freeport-McMoRan and BHP, shared positive reactions of the Castillo government following their meetings. Castillo later spoke at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, proposing the creation of an international treaty signed by world leaders and pharmaceutical companies to guarantee universal vaccine access internationally, stating: "On behalf of Peru, I want to propose the signing of a global agreement between Heads of State and patent owners to guarantee universal access to vaccines for all inhabitants, without discrimination or privileges, which would be a sign of our commitment to the health and lives of all peoples." Castillo argued: "The battle against the pandemic has shown us the failure of the international community to cooperate under the principle of solidarity."

In October 2021, the website El Foco released recordings revealing that leaders of the manufacturing employers' organization National Society of Industries, the leader of the Union of Multimodal Transport Guilds of Peru (UGTRANM), Geovani Rafael Diez Villegas, political leaders, and other business executives planned various actions, including funding transportation strikes in November 2021, in order to destabilize the Castillo government and prompt his removal. Far-right groups of former soldiers also allied with political parties like Go on Country – Social Integration Party, Popular Force, and Popular Renewal in an effort to remove Castillo, with some veteran leaders seen directly with Rafael López Aliaga and Castillo's former presidential challenger Keiko Fujimori, who signed the Madrid Charter promoted by the Spanish far-right political party Vox. These groups directed threats towards Castillo government officials and journalists, whilst also calling for a coup d'état and insurgency. OjoPúblico compared the veteran groups to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys of the United States, noting a possible threat of an event similar to the 2021 United States Capitol attack occurring in Peru.

Tensions with the Congress, dominated by conservative parties, were particularly high. Congress approved a law interpreting the constitution that restricted the executive's ability to dissolve Parliament, while Parliament retained the right to impeach the President. In December 2021, Congress passed a law that a referendum to convene a Constituent Assembly, one of Pedro Castillo's key promises during the presidential election, could not be held without a constitutional reform previously approved by Parliament. During a visit to the Spanish Parliament, the president of the Peruvian Congress, María del Carmen Alva, asked the deputies of the Popular Party to approve a declaration stating that "Peru has been captured by communism and that Pedro Castillo is a president without any legitimacy."

Presented in visitor documents as a lobbyist for the construction company Termirex, Karelim López met with Castillo's chief of staff Bruno Pacheco multiple times. In November 2021, four months into his term, Keiko Fujimori announced that her party was pushing forward impeachment proceedings, arguing that Castillo was "morally unfit for office". That day, investigators raided the Government Palace during an influence peddling investigation and found that Pacheco had US$20,000 present in his office's bathroom. Pacheco said that the money was part of his savings and salary, though he resigned from his position in order to prevent the scandal from affecting Castillo. On 25 November 28 legislators from Fujimori's party presented a signed motion of impeachment to congress, setting up a vote for opening impeachment proceedings against Castillo. A short time later, controversy arose when newspapers reported that Castillo had met with individuals at his former campaign headquarters in Breña without public record, a potential violation of a recently created, complicated set of transparency regulations. Lobbyist Karelim López would also become entangled with the controversy in Breña after the company Terminex, who she lobbied for, won the Tarata III Bridge Consortium contract worth 255.9 million soles. Audios purportedly obtained at the residence and released by América Televisión were criticized and dismissed as a scam. Castillo responded to the impeachment threat stating: "I am not worried about the political noise because the people have chosen me, not the mafias or the corrupt." The impeachment proceeding did not occur, as 76 voted against proceedings, 46 were in favor, and 4 abstained, with a requirement of 52 favoring proceedings not being obtained. Free Peru ultimately supported Castillo through the process and described the vote as an attempted right-wing coup. Castillo responded to the vote stating: "Brothers and sisters, let's end political crises and work together to achieve a just and supportive Peru."

Castillo has been described as a far-left, socialist, populist, and social conservative. He said that he is not a communist or a Chavista. Peru's attitude towards LGBT rights has generally been hostile and is heavily influenced by the Catholic Church, and Castillo is said to be more in line with his right-wing opponents on social issues, opposing abortion, LGBT rights, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, sex education, and the gender-equality approach in schools; this put him at odds with the progressive left that has supported him. The second round of the 2021 Peruvian general election pitted two socially conservative presidential candidates, in a highly polarized election, with two drastically different economic visions, as well as backgrounds; the pro-union Castillo, the first Peruvian president of peasant and rural origins, promoted left-wing values on government spending and foreign policy.

In November 2021, Castillo announced the rejection of the 2021 Nicaraguan general election results, saying they were not "free, fair and transparent elections". In addition, he supported the pressure measures against the government of Daniel Ortega by the Organization of American States.

Initial discussions between former Governor of Junín, Vladimir Cerrón of Free Peru, and Verónika Mendoza of Together for Peru, recommended a leftist coalition to support a single presidential candidate in the 2021 general election. Mendoza's advisors argued that Cerrón's beliefs were too radical and of an antiquated left wing ideology. Mendoza's camp also raised concerns about Cerrón's alleged homophobic and xenophobic rhetoric. In October 2020, Castillo announced his presidential bid, running as the candidate of Free Peru, and formally attained the nomination on 6 December 2020. His ticket included attorney Dina Boluarte and Vladimir Cerrón; Cerrón was later disqualified by the National Jury of Elections due to a corruption conviction.

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who was recognized as legitimate president of Venezuela by Peru in amidst the Venezuelan presidential crisis beginning in 2019, wished that Castillo would "decide for the good of freedom" after President Maduro's foreign minister Jorge Arreaza attended Castillo's inauguration. Guaidó warned that the Lima Group could be renamed "Quito Group" if Peru recognizes Maduro. Castillo has called for plans to "deactivate" the group.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Castillo said that his motivation for entering politics was seeing his students arrive to school hungry without any benefits while, at the same time, Peru experienced economic growth from mineral wealth. Castillo became a teachers' union leader during the 2017 Peru teachers' strike [es], which sought to increase salaries, pay off local government debt, repeal the Law of the Public Teacher Career and increase the education budget. At the time, the Peruvian government sought to replace a system of career teachers with temporary unskilled educators. The strikes spread through southern Peru; due to their longevity, Minister of Education Marilú Martens, Prime Minister Fernando Zavala, and other government officials jointly announced a package of salary increases and debt relief, though the teachers remained on strike.

On 24 August 2017, the government issued a supreme decree making official the benefits agreed in negotiations, issuing a warning that if teachers did not return to their classrooms by 28 August, they would be fired and replaced. On 2 September 2017, Castillo announced a suspension of the strike; he said it was only a temporary suspension.

Following Castillo's surprising success in the first round of elections, the S&P/BVL Peru General Index fell by 3.2% and the Peruvian sol saw its value drop 1.7%, its biggest loss since December 2017 during the first impeachment process against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski; in the week before the run-off vote, the sol continued to post historical lows against the U.S. dollar. An economist told the Financial Times that they have not seen such a serious capital flight in two decades. Optimistic observers felt that Castillo would moderate his views, citing former president Ollanta Humala as an example. Pedro Francke, a university professor of economics, rejected comparisons of his style of leadership to those seen in Cuba or Venezuela, and instead suggested that his governing style would be more similar to that of leftist leaders like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, and José Mujica. Daniel Rico of RBC Capital Markets credited Francke with calming markets fears of Castillo, who was characterized by opponents as a far-left politician.

The Economist wrote that Castillo "combines radical rhetoric with pragmatism", and cited his work with both left-wing and right-wing groups, including Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force, during the 2017 teachers' strike. Le Monde diplomatique wrote that Castillo maintained support prior to being elected because his positions were "rather vague". Castillo later distanced himself from the far-left of the Free Peru party, stating that "the one who is going to govern is me" and there will be "no communism" in Peru under his government. Kahhat said Castillo limited his relationship with Free Peru and separated himself from the party's leader, adding that "it is important to remember that Castillo is a candidate but not a party member. ... [W]e might even say he is more conservative than the ideals of [Free Peru] would suggest." Anthony Medina Rivas Plata, a political scientist at the Catholic University of Santa María, said that "Castillo's rise is not because he is left-wing, but because he comes from below. He has never said he is a Marxist, socialist or communist. What he is, is an evangelical."

In 2017, Castillo's participation in the teacher's strike was criticized by Minister of the Interior, Carlos Basombrío Iglesias, who said Castillo was involved with MOVADEF, a group consisting of former members of Shining Path. Castillo said he was not involved with MOVADEF or the militant teachers' union faction CONARE and that those factions should not be involved in teaching. In June 2018, Hamer Villena Zúñiga, the leader of the United Union of Workers in Education of Peru (SUTEP), stated that Castillo's sister, María Doraliza Castillo Terrones, was a member of MOVADEF. In 2018 and 2020, the newspaper Peru.21 accused Castillo of being linked to Shining Path, and published documents citing his alleged participation in virtual meetings with the organization's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.

After his victory in the first round, Castillo called for Peruvian political forces, including trade unions and Ronda Campesinas, to establish a political agreement, though he declined to make a roadmap similar that of Ollanta Humala during the 2016 general election. He established a political alliance with the left-wing former presidential candidate Verónika Mendoza in May 2021, earning her support for his campaign.

Trailing throughout the entire campaign, his polling surged during the last weeks of the campaign and on election day, Castillo secured 18% of the vote in the first round, putting him in first place among eighteen candidates. His success was attributed to his focus on the large difference of living standards between Lima and rural Peru, leading to strong support in countryside provinces. He faced the second-placed candidate, Keiko Fujimori, who had also finished second place in the 2011 and 2016 general elections, in the second round of voting.

In 2002, Castillo unsuccessfully ran for the mayorship of Anguía as the representative of Alejandro Toledo's centre-left party Possible Peru. He served as a leading member of the party in Cajamarca from 2005 until the party's dissolution in 2017 following its poor results in the 2016 Peruvian general election. Following his leadership during the teachers' strike, numerous political parties in Peru approached Castillo to promote him as a congressional candidate, though he refused and instead decided to run for the presidency after encouragement from unions.

From 1995, Castillo worked as a primary school teacher and principal at School 10465 in the town of Puña, Chota. In addition to teaching, he was responsible for cooking for his students and cleaning their classroom. According to Castillo, the community constructed the school after receiving no government assistance. Rural teaching in Peru is poorly paid but highly respected and influential within local communities, which led Castillo to become involved with teachers' unions. With his working background as a patrolman for Rondas campesinas and being a schoolteacher, two of the most respected jobs in Peruvian society, Castillo was able to establish a high level of political support.

During the internal conflict in Peru that began in the 1980s, Castillo worked in his youth as a patrolman of Rondas campesinas to defend against the Shining Path. According to Farid Kahhat, a Peruvian international relations professor interviewed by Jacobin, these groups included members with leftist beliefs combating far-left terrorism in rural areas not under the reach of the Peruvian government.

During the terrorism in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s, the government, military, and media in Peru described individuals on the left of the political spectrum as being a threat to the nation, with many students, professors, union members, and peasants being jailed or killed for their political beliefs. Such sentiments continued for decades into the 2021 election, with Peru's right-wing elite and media organizations collaborating with Fujimori's campaign by appealing to fear when discussing Castillo, linking him to armed communist groups through a fearmongering political attack known as a terruqueo. The terreuqueo was also used beside classist and racist rhetoric against Castillo.

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (Spanish: [xoˈse ˈpeðɾo kasˈtiʝo teˈrones] (listen); born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 to 7 December 2022. On 7 December 2022, he was impeached and removed from office by the Congress of Peru after attempting a self-coup.

Many observers described the second round of the presidential election as being a choice between the lesser of two evils. The transfer of the presidency to Castillo was described by the Institute of Peruvian Studies [es] as "strengthening the current Peruvian democratic regime", as the process was peaceful and contributed to a "more prolonged democratic stability" in Peru in the early 21st century. The New York Times reported his victory as the "clearest repudiation of the country's establishment", and the Financial Times described him as "a hope for the poor", amid concerns among the establishment and the elite, which resulted in a capital flight, in a country that was hit the most by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to excess mortality, with an economy in recession, a collapsed healthcare, a series of corruption scandals, and one third of Peruvians living in poverty.