Did Fujimori secretly vote left-winger Balcázar into office?

Peru’s José Jeri gave new meaning to the term “interim president,” managing to last just four months in the role. He was ousted by the country’s unicameral assembly earlier this week by 75 votes to 24, with three abstentions. His replacement, left-winger José María Balcázar, became Peru’s ninth president in less than a decade, extending a political crisis that has not yet rocked the country’s relatively steady economy.

Jeri was accused of holding unregistered meetings with Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang, potentially hiding a conflict of interest with foreign lobbyists. But his image was tainted beyond that incident, including a long list of sexual misconduct allegations, the last of which was the hiring of multiple young women after late-night visits to the government palace.

Jerí had himself replaced another interim president late in October, when the same assembly unanimously voted to remove the unpopular Dina Boluarte, a former progressive who made a deal with the political right to survive in office after her former ally, Pedro Castillo, went to jail for trying to shut down Congress by decree in 2022.