Castillo was officially designated as president-elect of Peru on 19 July 2021, only a week before he was to be inaugurated. The majority of ministers chosen by Castillo were from interior regions in contrast to previous governments where most ministers originated from Lima. Ministers were mainly from allied leftist and independent organizations, while three ministers were from
Free Peru and another three were previous teachers close to Castillo. as he lacked notable political experience prior to his election. In little more than the first six months of his government, four different cabinets were selected after being dissolved following numerous corruption controversies affecting Castillo and his close advisors. He also stated during the interview that Free Peru leader
Vladimir Cerrón had "no influence on cabinet appointments." In April 2022, Free Peru drafted a bill calling for general elections in 2023 to elect a new president and Congress. By late 2022, Castillo aligned with right-wing groups in Congress, meeting with the conservative group
Con mis hijos no te metas and various evangelical groups to push for laws preventing the teaching of
gender studies and detailed
sexual education in schools.
Domestic policy According to Farid Kahhat of the
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Castillo's economic policy was created in collaboration with
Verónika Mendoza, utilizing
New Peru economists who had an established history of holding public office. Kahhat explained that Castillo proposed taxing windfall profits, describing these profits as "the product of good international prices and not the merit of the company itself." In September 2021, Castillo announced funding of 99 million soles (US$24 million) to provide food for impoverished families, stating, "We cannot understand that, despite having so much wealth in the country, it is not balanced with development." As announced during his campaign, he launched an agrarian reform in October 2021, which he promised would not involve expropriations. Following the death of
Abimael Guzmán, the founder of
Shining Path, Castillo said his government's "condemnation of terrorism is firm" and he condemned Guzmán, saying he was "responsible for the loss of innumerable lives of our compatriots." In November 2021, Castillo announced an increase in the minimum wage from 930 to 1,000 soles ($223 to $250), the sale of the presidential jet acquired in 1995, and a ban on
first-class travel for all civil servants. That month, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru reported that from July through September 2021, Peru's GDP grew by 11.4% and beat previous expectations, with
Bloomberg News saying Peru experienced the fastest growing economy among Latin American nations at the time. The
International Monetary Fund supported tax increases on the mining sector, reporting in December 2021 that Peru could safely increase taxes since the country had "a tax burden that is lower or similar to other resource-rich countries." After Castillo's acquittal of the second impeachment attempt against him in February 2022, global economic reverberations resulted from
international sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation in Peru rose sharply, prompting protests. By April 2022, the inflation rate in Peru rose to its highest level in 26 years, creating greater difficulties for the recently impoverished population. These strikes later expanded, culminating with the
2022 Peruvian protests. Béjar resigned on 17 August 2021, amid criticism from the opposition and some media over his statement that Peru's navy had been responsible for terrorist acts and that the
CIA had created the
Shining Path. During his first Foreign Relations Commission with Congress, Castillo's second foreign minister
Óscar Maúrtua said that Peru would remain a member of the
Andean Community, the
Pacific Alliance, and
PROSUR, saying that Castillo's government held the "objective of achieving South American integration, for the benefit of our peoples," while also offering refuge to
Afghan refugees following the
Fall of Kabul. For his first international trips, Castillo traveled to Mexico on 17 September 2021 and later to the United States on 19 September. During his tour in the United States, Castillo and economic minister Pedro Francke met with foreign investors, along with representatives from the
United States Chamber of Commerce,
Pfizer, and
Microsoft. Some of Peru's largest investors, such as
Freeport-McMoRan and
BHP, shared positive reactions of the Castillo government following their meetings. Castillo later spoke at the
76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, proposing the creation of an
international treaty signed by world leaders and
pharmaceutical companies to guarantee universal vaccine access internationally, stating, "On behalf of Peru, I want to propose the signing of a global agreement between heads of state and patent owners to guarantee universal access to vaccines for all inhabitants, without discrimination or privileges, which would be a sign of our commitment to the health and lives of all peoples." Castillo argued, "The battle against the pandemic has shown us the failure of the international community to cooperate under the principle of solidarity." In June 2022, Castillo convened the leaders of different South American nations to treat the
Venezuelan migrant crisis, with Peru being home to 1.3 million Venezuelans that fled following the
crisis in Venezuela. According to Peruvian law, the president must have the authorization of Congress every time he wants to travel abroad, with the legislative body banning Castillo from participating in foreign affairs on multiple occasions. Congress banned Castillo from traveling to
Colombia for the inauguration of the new president,
Gustavo Petro, denied permission to travel to the
Vatican to meet with the Pope, to
Thailand for the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and to
Mexico for a meeting of the
Pacific Alliance in November 2022; the latter was cancelled and rescheduled for 14 December 2022 in Lima, though it never took place.
Removal attempts In October 2021, the website
El Foco released recordings revealing that leaders of the manufacturing employers' organization
National Society of Industries, the leader of the Union of Multimodal Transport Guilds of Peru (UGTRANM), Geovani Rafael Diez Villegas, political leaders, and other business executives planned various actions, including funding transportation strikes in November 2021, in order to destabilize the Castillo government and prompt his removal. Far-right groups of former soldiers also allied with political parties like
Go on Country – Social Integration Party,
Popular Force, and
Popular Renewal in an effort to remove Castillo, with some veteran leaders seen directly with
Rafael López Aliaga and Castillo's former presidential challenger Keiko Fujimori, who signed the
Madrid Charter promoted by the Spanish far-right political party
Vox. These groups directed threats towards Castillo government officials and journalists, while also calling for a
coup d'état and
insurgency. Hundreds of members of La Resistencia and
Fujimorists had already attempted to storm the
Government Palace in July 2021 in rejection of election results, though such groups were repelled by authorities. Tensions with
Congress, dominated by conservative parties, were particularly high. The legislative body attempted to remove Castillo multiple times, accusing him of corruption, though charges only went as far as preliminary investigations.
November–December 2021 impeachment attempt Presented in visitor documents as a lobbyist for the construction company Termirex,
Karelim López met with Castillo's chief of staff Bruno Pacheco multiple times. In November 2021, four months into his term, Keiko Fujimori announced that her party was pushing forward
impeachment proceedings, arguing that Castillo was "morally unfit for office." That day, investigators raided the Government Palace during an
influence peddling investigation and found that there was US$20,000 in Pacheco's office's bathroom. Pacheco said that the money was part of his savings and salary, though he resigned from his position in order to prevent the scandal from affecting Castillo. Lobbyist Karelim López also became entangled with the controversy in Breña after the company Terminex, whom she lobbied for, won the Tarata III Bridge Consortium contract worth 255.9 million soles. Audio purportedly obtained at the residence and released by
América Televisión were criticized and dismissed as a scam. Castillo responded to the impeachment threat stating: "I am not worried about the political noise because the people have chosen me, not the mafias or the corrupt." Free Peru ultimately supported Castillo through the process and described the vote as an attempted right-wing coup. Castillo responded to the vote stating, "Brothers and sisters, let's end political crises and work together to achieve a just and supportive Peru." Alva had already shared her readiness to assume the presidency of Peru if Castillo were to be removed from the position and a leaked
Telegram group chat of the Board of Directors of Congress that she headed revealed coordinated plans to oust Castillo. A second impeachment attempt related to corruption allegations did make it to proceedings in March 2022. In July 2022, a fifth inquiry was launched into Castillo's alleged involvement in corruption.
Self-coup attempt, removal from office and imprisonment On 7 December 2022, hours before the
Congress of Peru was scheduled to vote on a third impeachment motion against him, Castillo tried to institute an illegal self-coup; citing obstruction by Congress, he declared a national curfew, the dissolution of Congress, and the installation of a "government of exceptional emergency." The
Constitutional Court and First Vice President
Dina Boluarte also called it a
coup d'état attempt, Castillo was then impeached and removed from the presidency by the Congress of Peru later on 7 December, as scheduled. The impeachment passed with a majority 101 for and 6 against out of 130 votes. Boluarte, who had broken with Castillo after the announcement, ascended to the presidency. While dropping off his family at the Mexican embassy in Lima, members of the
National Police of Peru who were driving Castillo feared that he was attempting to flee Peru and detained him. According to President Boluarte, Castillo's family was granted asylum by Mexico but not Castillo himself, His trial for rebellion charges over the self-coup began on 4 March 2025. On 10 March, Castillo announced that he was going on a hunger strike, resulting in his hospitalization and the end of his hunger strike on 13 March. Prosecution sought 34-years imprisonment, but he received an 11 years, five months, and 15 days sentence on 27 November 2025.
Recognition Castillo's impeachment was recognized internationally, with countries like Spain and China, and organizations such as the European Union recognizing Boluarte and championing a return to "constitutional order." The
American continent was more mixed. Members of the
São Paulo Forum like
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and
Gabriel Boric of Chile recognized Boluarte as the new president. The United States, Costa Rica and Canada recognized Boluarte as president. However, some left-wing Latin American governments, including
Bolivia,
Colombia,
Honduras,
Mexico, and
Venezuela continued to recognize Pedro Castillo as the democratically elected President of Peru following the events in December 2022 and refused to recognize Boluarte.
Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela,
Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico,
Gustavo Petro of Colombia,
Alberto Fernández of Argentina, and
Luis Arce of Bolivia denounced Boluarte's government as a coup, comparing the situation as similar to the ascension of Bolivia's
Jeanine Áñez during the
2019 Bolivian political crisis. These presidents continued to support Pedro Castillo's claims to be the rightful president under a "government of exception." ==Political positions==