Following the ouster of the former President of Peru, Pedro Castillo on Wednesday, Dina Boluarte, who was previously the Vice-President of the country will now assume the role of its first female leader. 

The Constitutional Court of Peru released a statement saying that Castillo acted outside the constitutional powers given to the president and as a result, Congress must act in accordance with its powers and the vice president will be sworn in as the country’s leader.

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The decision came after Castillo announced the dissolution of the legislature ahead of its vote on his removal. The 53-year-old said in a televised address to the nation that he would rule by decree, in a move slammed as a “coup” shortly before a debate was due over his impeachment in Congress. “This intolerable situation cannot continue,” he said.

Who is Dina Boluarte?

Boluarte was born on May 31, 1962, in Chalhuanca, Apurímac. She graduated as a lawyer from the University of San Martín de Porres. She completed her postgraduate studies from the same university

Boluarte was a mayoral candidate of Surquillo of Lima in 2018. She was associated with the Free Peru party at the time. She also participated in the parliamentary elections in 2020 with the same party. However, she failed to obtain a congressional seat. She was part of Pedro Castillo’s team at the time of the presidential elections and was victorious in the run-off.

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In July 2021, she was appointed Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, as part of Castillo’s administration in Peru. 

She made headlines in January of this year when she publicly denounced the ideology of Free Peru, 

during an interview with La República. She was subsequently expelled from Free Peru by the party’s general secretary, Vladimir Cerrón, who later tweeted, “Always loyal, traitors never.”