Peru’s leftist president Pedro Castillo was ousted by lawmakers and arrested Wednesday in a dizzying series of events in a country long prone to political upheaval.
Dina Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, was sworn in as Peru’s first female president just hours after Castillo tried to dissolve Congress in a move criticised as an attempted coup.
Castillo, a former rural school teacher unexpectedly won power from Peru’s traditional political elite in an election 18 months ago.
In a televised address to the nation, the 53-year-old announced that he was dissolving the opposition-dominated Congress, installing a curfew, and would rule by decree.
