José Jerí became president of Peru following the impeachment of Dina Boluarte on October 10, 2025.
Background
Former president Dina Boluarte was impeached after midnight on October 10, 2025, after she failed to appear before Congress to defend herself against Agenda 19770, which brought forward a motion to impeach due to Boluarte's failure to lower crime rates in the country. Despite Boluarte's lawyer, Juan Carlos Portugal, argument that she did not have enough time to prepare herself which violated the right to defence, the Congress moved forward with the impeachment motions. With a vote of 122–0 and 0 abstentions, her impeachment was announced at 00:07.
Once the impeachment process was complete, Congress opened a motion of censure against Jerí, who was congressional president. After the motion of censure was rejected, Jerí was instated as the president of Peru.
Assumption of office
On 10 October 2025, the Congress of the Republic unanimously declared the vacancy for permanent moral incapacity of then president Dina Boluarte. Once the removal process concluded, Parliament debated a motion of censure against the Board of Directors, made up of the Bloque Democrático coalition. José Jerí was the president of Congress at the time, elected by said coalition. After the motion was rejected, Jerí was sworn in at 01:00 Peruvian time and assumed the presidency of the Republic in accordance with the line of succession, becoming the third head of state of the 2021–2026 period and the seventh since 2016.
In his inaugural speech, Jerí emphasized the need to confront the citizen insecurity crisis and committed himself to “installing and leading a government of transition, empathy, and national reconciliation” in the face of the political crisis affecting the country.
Cabinet
Ministry Minister Party TermPortraitNameStartEnd Presidency of the Council of Ministers Ernesto Álvarez Miranda PPC 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hugo de Zela Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Defense César Díaz Peche Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Economy and Finance Denisse Miralles Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of the Interior Vicente Tiburcio Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Walter Martínez Laura Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Education Jorge Figueroa Guzmán Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Health Luis Quiroz Avilés Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation Vladimir Cuno Salcedo Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Labour and Promotion of Employment Óscar Fernández Cáceres PPC 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Production César Quispe Luján Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism Teresa Mera Gómez Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Energy and Mines Luis Bravo de la Cruz Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Transportation and Communications Aldo Prieto Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation Wilder Sifuentes Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations Sandra Gutiérrez PDSP 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of the Environment Miguel Ángel Espichán Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Culture Alfredo Luna AvP 14 October 202517 February 2026 Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion Lesly Shica Indep. 14 October 202517 February 2026
Policies First meetings On Saturday, 11 October 2025, after assuming the presidency, Jerí met with representatives of 35 urban transport unions following the announcement of a strike scheduled for 15 October together with the collective “Generación Z”. The meeting was held with the purpose of clarifying commitments previously established with the executive branch regarding the extortion crisis nationwide. Consequently, it was confirmed that several transport services would not join the previously proposed strike.
The following day, 12 October, Jerí held talks with Aldo Mariños – mayor of Pataz Province, who had carried out a 48-day march together with local peasant patrols and other opposition groups toward the city of Lima – regarding health and security problems in Pataz Province, Department of La Libertad. On 14 October, Jerí spoke with 90% of the mayors of the districts of the Lima metropolitan area, whose most requested topics were security, education, and investment. He subsequently met with the mayors of the districts of the Constitutional Province of Callao, representatives of native communities from Huánuco, Loreto, and Ucayali, mayors from northeastern Peru, regional governors, and former members of the GEIN and police commissioners.
Election of prime minister In the first days of his government, Jerí was criticized for his lack of speed in forming the ministerial cabinet. In response to the criticism, Jerí announced that his cabinet would not be made up of ministers from the previous government or members of Congress, following rumors that Raúl Pérez-Reyes, economy minister during Boluarte's government, would become the new prime minister. Finally, Ernesto Álvarez Miranda was chosen as prime minister. According to Caretas, before Álvarez's appointment, the president had offered the post of prime minister to seven other figures, who rejected the position.
Diplomatic conflict with Mexico On 3 November 2025, foreign minister Hugo de Zela announced that Betssy Chávez had sought asylum at the Mexican embassy, which provoked the severance of diplomatic relations with that country. Chávez, a former minister during the government of Pedro Castillo, is being investigated for the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy following the attempted self-coup in 2022, which had already generated tensions with the Mexican government because of its attempt to grant political asylum to Castillo. On 4 November, the national court decided not to declare Chávez a fugitive, therefore no search or arrest order was issued against her. The same day, President Jerí stated in an interview that “cordiality had been maintained as far as possible”.
The government ordered the expulsion of the Mexican ambassador to Peru, Karla Ornelas; a decision considered “excessive” by the foreign ministry of that nation. On 6 November, Congress declared Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum persona non grata. On 22 November, the functions of the Peruvian consul in Mexico ceased entirely.
Social aspect Second phase of the Generation Z protests
From the very day José Jerí was sworn in as president of the Republic, protests and citizen mobilizations broke out throughout the country (mainly in Lima), demanding various reforms. This was partly contributed to by the president's unpopularity stemming from an investigation against him for an alleged sexual assault case during a party at Casa Club Santa Rosa de Quives in Canta, which was shelved some time after being opened, together with the recent controversy surrounding comments considered misogynistic published by him through his main Twitter account; in addition to the fact that during his time as a congressman he allegedly approved certain laws on insecurity that generated indignation among the national citizenry.
The marches significantly increased in attendance on 15 October, the date of the official call by the Generación Z collective and labor unions. From 15:00 (PET), protests began in Chimbote, Cusco, Arequipa, Piura, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Huancayo, Iquitos, Huaraz, Cajamarca, Tarapoto, Lima, Ayacucho, Puerto Maldonado, Huánuco, Ucayali, and Juliaca.
During the demonstrations, several violent incidents occurred between protesters and security agents, especially in the main squares of Arequipa and Lima; among them clashes near Congress that led to a fire in front of the building, riots in the Plaza de Armas of Arequipa near the site where the 10th International Congress of the Spanish Language was to be held, an attempted attack on the headquarters of the Public Ministry using stones and fireworks, in addition to further clashes that left a total of more than 100 injured (both police officers and civilians) and caused the death of a protester identified as Eduardo Ruíz, who was struck by a pellet fired by PNP third subofficer Luis Magallanes, a member of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (DIRINCRI), according to Óscar Arriola. In Huancavelica, a highway toward Huancayo was blocked by protesters. It was observed that some small groups of protesters in Lima's historic center behaved violently, and one of them threw a Molotov cocktail at authorities during the clashes of 15 October. Artists from the Awkapuma Collective, in the district of La Victoria, announced that they had painted an entire wall in tribute to Trvko, the young man who died during the protest.
On 25 October, a new march led by youth groups took place in Lima's historic center; unlike the previous one, it ended without incidents between police and protesters. During the same protest, a strike was called for 14 November 2025.
In the same context, presidential adviser Wilber Medina denied the existence of “pro-crime laws” and supported police firing on protesters “at the first stone thrown”.
Counterdemonstrations Due to the calls for Generation Z demonstrations on the 15th, groups in favor of Jerí's presidency called a March for Peace in downtown Lima. The demonstrators, under the slogan "Peace and Unity", reached Plaza San Martín. President José Jerí appeared to express his support for the mobilization and gave a speech calling for peace and the stability of the country.
Later, influencer Jorge Ugarte called a counterprotest — self-described as the "March for Peace" or "Police Resist" — in support of the government authorities and the National Police of Peru for 25 October. On the scheduled day, a number of people, including relatives of officers, retired police officers, and civil organizations, gathered at the Campo de Marte to carry out the mobilization. Former interior minister Juan José Santiváñez appeared in support of the march in favor of the National Police.
Mining protests On 20 October, unions of illegal mining companies gathered at Campo de Marte to march to the Congress of the Republic to demand the extension of the Reinfo mechanism for at least five years and the approval of the MAPE law. During the mobilization, streets near Congress were blocked, including Abancay Avenue and the Huancavelica, Junín, and Áncash streets. Jerí supported extending the mining formalization deadline by one year.
Security Nationwide crime wave On 11 October, the president led an unannounced visit to Ancón I prison as part of a simultaneous operation that included searches in the Lurigancho, El Milagro, and Challapalca prisons. On 13 October, Jerí, from Castro Castro prison, led a new operation in prisons, with this activity carried out in the Huaral, Picsi, and Huamancaca prisons. On 15 October, President Jerí, making use of his status as a member of Congress, introduced a bill for prison inmates to work on reforestation, tree planting, and water management in headwaters and high Andean slopes, in addition to proposing the creation of the National High-Andean Prison Reforestation Program (PRPA). On 18 October, the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS) announced that 14 million soles would be allocated, through FONCODES, to improve the equipment and infrastructure of 20 police stations, with the announcement made after minister Lesly Shica visited the PNP Alfonso Ugarte police station. That same day, due to the escape of a Venezuelan inmate named Krisman Nizama Ponce, the president, together with his ministers, inspected Huaral prison and the PNP police station in Aucallama.