Peru swore in its eighth president in a decade on Wednesday. By Thursday, José María Balcázar was in court.
The 83-year-old former judge and leftist lawmaker assumed the interim presidency after Congress removed his predecessor, José Jerí, by a 75-24 vote on February 17. Jerí lasted four months. His crime wasn’t policy failure or abuse of power in the traditional sense. He got caught holding secret meetings with a Chinese businessman who held a state contract — entering the meetings wearing a hood to avoid detection.
The scandal became known as “Chifagate,” named for Peruvian-Chinese fusion cuisine. Jerí claimed he was organizing a cultural festival.
Balcázar, a member of the Marxist Perú Libre party, defeated three other candidates after several rounds of congressional voting. He became the fourth president of the 2021-2026 constitutional term. Pedro Castillo won that term’s election, attempted to dissolve Congress in 2022, was impeached and arrested, and is now serving an 11-year sentence. Dina Boluarte replaced him and was herself impeached in October 2025. Jerí replaced her. Balcázar replaced him.
The new president’s first full day in office brought a court summons. Peru’s Public Ministry alleges that during his tenure as dean of the Lambayeque Bar Association from 2019 to 2022, Balcázar misappropriated institutional funds and routed money into personal bank accounts. The Bar Association itself opposed his candidacy. A judge ordered mandatory attendance at hearings scheduled for June and warned that failure to appear could trigger a nationwide arrest warrant.
Balcázar denies the charges. He also faces separate investigations involving suspected judicial misconduct, fraud, and bribery from his years on the bench. In 2023, he drew condemnation for arguing against criminalizing child marriage, claiming that “early sexual relations” benefit a young girl’s “psychological future.”
None of this prevented his election. Peru’s Congress is so fragmented that assembling any majority requires trading principle for arithmetic. Thirty-six presidential candidates registered for April’s general election. Thirty-eight congressional lists joined them.
Balcázar told reporters governing Peru “is not difficult” and pledged to oversee “unquestionable” elections on April 12. He will serve until July 28, when the elected president takes office. His predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor is already requesting a pardon.
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