Peruvian political crisis (2016–present)

An ongoing long-term political crisis began in Peru during the presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in late 2016 and has substantially worsened under the rule of his various successors. The crisis has been marked by mass protests, labor strikes, corruption scandals, rising crime levels, political violence, and political instability that has led the country into a state of democratic backsliding and emerging authoritarianism.

Under Kuczynski's term, Peru had a divided government, with the Congress of the Republic being held by the right-wing opposition parties of Popular Force and its allies. This state of division within the government led to conflict between the executive and legislative branches of government. After a series of corruption scandals and attempts to remove him, Kuczysnki resigned under major pressure in March 2018. His successor, Martín Vizcarra, led a more confrontational approach towards Congress, vowing major reforms against corruption. As a result of the conflict, Vizcarra dissolved Congress in September 2019, sparking a constitutional crisis and snap legislative elections in January 2020, which led to Popular Force to lose its majority in Congress. Vizcarra would later be impeached and then removed from office in November 2020, with Congress installing Manuel Merino as president. The removal was widely categorized as a coup d'état, which led to mass protests and Merino's resignation after five days in office. He was later replaced with Francisco Sagasti.

Under Sagasti's term, general elections were held, which led to the left-wing Pedro Castillo defeating Keiko Fujimori from Popular Force in the presidential election. As a result, Fujimori and her allies attempted to overturn the election, leading to an electoral crisis and allegations of a coup. However, Castillo was nonetheless declared as winner and was inaugurated regularly. Under his term, right-wing parties returned to a majority in Congress, which led to a more divisive conflict emerging. Castillo endured major obstructionist efforts amidst his presidency. After several attempts to remove him, Castillo attempted a self-coup by illegally dissolving Congress in December 2022, which promptly led to his removal. His vice president and successor, Dina Boluarte, then allied herself with the right-wing Congress, which led to mass unrest and a widely-criticized crackdown on dissent. During her presidency, Fujimorists and their right-wing allies packed institutions and consolidated power, which led to accelerated democratic erosion. After a major security crisis emerged and further protests occurred, Boluarte was removed from office in October 2025 and replaced by José Jerí; however, protests continued under his administration. Jerí himself would be removed from office four months later for a corruption scandal that emerged after he had undisclosed meetings with Chinese businessmen.

Throughout the crisis, many human rights organizations have criticized the government's reaction to protests, while other non-governmental organizations have warned of accelerating democratic backsliding. Nominations for the Constitutional Tribunal that lacked transparency were condemned by United States Congress members in a July 2023 letter to President Joe Biden. The United Nations has also criticized the terruqueo fearmongering tactic used by Fujimorists and the Peruvian government to paint dissidents as terrorist sympathizers. Merino's response to the 2020 protests and Castillo's response to the 2022 protests were both also criticized for use of excessive force and both were labeled as authoritarians as a result. Under the government of Dina Bolaurte, over 80 deaths were reported during protests, with an attorney from the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos stated that the impunity rate for extrajudicial killings was "close to 100%". A wide range of human rights violations were also reported by NGOs to have been committed by the government of Boluarte, including massacres in Ayacucho and Juliaca. Boluarte's government was later labeled as "a growing militaristic government" as a result of the heavy influence of the armed forces within government and its undemocratic tendencies. The Peruvian Public Ministry controversy also revealed how independent institutions were packed with government supporters, further crushing dissent. As a result, Peru has been labeled a "failed democracy".

Political corruption has also dominated the crisis greatly, with almost all of Peru's living former presidents having been investigated or convicted of such. As a result, support for established political parties in the country has plummeted, while confidence in politicians has also fallen as a result. During their rule, Fujimorists had "earned a reputation as hardline obstructionists for blocking initiatives popular with Peruvians aimed at curbing the nation’s rampant corruption" according to the Associated Press, while another political analyst described Congress as being infiltrated by criminal organizations "that obstruct reforms to maintain their status and parliamentary immunity". Much of Peru's population also views Congress as being more focused on personal gain, vote trading, and advancing their political agenda rather than the issues facing the nation, especially corruption. Decades of economic inequality between the interior of the nation and the primate city Lima has also plagued the nation, with this inequality being attributed to both racism and endemic corruption.