Peruvian President Pedro Castillo wearing the presidential sash after the presidential inauguration in Lima, Peru, on July 28. Castillo of Free Peru National Political Party defeated Keiko Fujimori of Popular Force party by a slight margin in the runoff on June 6.
POLITICA L U N R E ST
SCANDALS, CORRUPTION, inffectiveness lead to big votes in Peru, Chile and Ecuador
By Autumn Spredemann
38 I N S I G H T December 3 – 9, 2021
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES, MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
PRESIDENTI A L IMPE ACHMENT S SW EEP ACROS S SOUTH AMERICA
P
eru’s Congress filed a motion to impeach President Pedro Castillo on Nov. 25, which political rival Keiko Fujimori and her Popular Force party supported. Castillo’s administration has been plagued by scandal and corruption charges since he took office this summer. The Nov. 25 impeachment motion makes Peru the third South American nation since October to consider removing its president. Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera faced impeachment by the lower chamber of the nation’s legislature on Nov. 9 due to his involvement in a questionable acquisition exposed in the Pandora Papers investigation. The action failed to pass the Senate due to a lack of opposition votes on Nov. 16. In Ecuador, President Guillermo Lasso faced a congressional investigation for tax evasion, likewise revealed in the Pandora Papers. Former presidential can-