Peru’s new president says she is open to Health & Fitness Journal early polls

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©Health & Fitness Journal. Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte arrives to address the media at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru, December 8, 2022. Peru’s Presidency/Handout via REUTERS 2/2

By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Health & Fitness Journal) – Peru’s President Dina Boluarte said on Friday she was ready to discuss snap elections with the country’s political and civil organizations but ruled out launching constitutional changes for the time being.

Boluarte, who took office Wednesday hours after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was ousted, said she called for calm as protests erupted in support of the former president.

Early morning footage on local television showed hundreds of farmers blockading a stretch of Peru’s main coastal road and calling for early elections.

“If society and the situation justifies bringing forward elections, then we will sit down in conversation with the democratic and political forces in Congress to talk,” she told reporters.

“I’m not the one who caused this situation, I’m just fulfilling the constitutional role,” she added, urging the “sisters and brothers who are coming out in protest … to calm down.”

Later Friday, Boluarte said she received a call expressing her support from Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez.

“He expressed his support and cooperation in strengthening our democracy, bilateral relations and regional politics,” she said on Twitter.

Attorney Boluarte, 60, who was Castillo’s vice president, became the first woman to take over the country’s presidency and will hold the post until 2026 if no new elections are called.

Asked about calls by some left-wing parties for a new constitution to be drawn up, Boluarte said the long-standing call should not be abandoned, but that she does not want to do so in the short term.

“I think this is not the right time. At the moment Peru is going through a political crisis and we still have to solve the economic and food crisis,” she said.

She said she will appoint her new cabinet members on Friday or Saturday.

Boluarte said she plans to visit Castillo in prison, adding his coup surprised us all, including his ministers.

Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress just hours before he was removed from office in an impeachment vote. He was arrested and is now being prosecuted.

Mexican authorities said Thursday they had started talks with Peru over Castillo’s asylum request. On Friday afternoon, Peru’s foreign ministry summoned Mexico’s ambassador, saying that comments by the country’s leaders on the matter amounted to “interference in Peru’s internal affairs.”

Peru’s abrupt leadership change has had limited impact on markets so far. Analysts said economic and financial institutions in the world’s second largest manufacturing nation remain resilient to political volatility.

But Boluarte, who called for a political truce in her first speech as president, must be careful to avoid the fate of other leaders who left the post before their term was up.