Peru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, is the first woman to hold the post in the country’s 200 years of independence. The 60-year-old leftist lawyer, who was sworn in as the Andean nation’s new head of state on Wednesday, had served as Pedro Castillo’s vice president until he was swiftly removed from office by lawmakers after trying to shut down the country’s congress. .
Accepting the presidential sash in Peru’s congress, Boluarte said his first task would be “to act against corruption.” This cancer must be eradicated from the country.
Amid years of instability and infighting that have seen the executive and legislative branches of government at loggerheads, she added, “We need the best Peruvians. Governing Peru will not be an easy task. We will set up a cabinet of all blood to move the country forward. »
His mention of “all blood” was a reference to a novel by revered Peruvian author José María Arguedas, who hails from Apurímac, the same Andean region as Boluarte, who was born in the town of Chalhuanca.
“As a native of Apurímac, I can only remember José María Arguedas and, in his memory, I pledge to fight so that dummies, outcasts and strangers have access to what has always been theirs refused,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I swear by God, by the homeland, by the Peruvians that I will defend democracy until 2026,” she added.
Boluarte, who speaks Spanish and Quechua, was a member of Perú Libre, the Marxist party that Castillo represented in elections until his expulsion earlier this year. She was branded a traitor by controversial party leader Vladimir Cerrón, who was unable to run for vice president due to a criminal conviction for corruption.
Before accepting the vice presidency, she had worked as the head of Peru’s civil registry office since 2007. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Surquillo, a district of Lima, in 2018. Boluarte, who has practiced as a lawyer for 18 years, also has a master’s degree in notarial and registration law.
Before becoming president on Wednesday, the low-key lawyer served as the country’s development and inclusion minister for 16 months.