Peru's Interim President Has Been Impeached After Four Months In Office Over Scandals And Alleged Corruption
On Feb. 17, Jerí was removed from office after lawmakers voted him out with 75 in favor, 24 against and 3 abstentions.
Peru’s interim president José Jerí has been impeached after only four months in office over a scandal involving secret meetings with Chinese businessmen.
39-year-old Jerí took office on Oct. 10, 2025, after Peru’s congress impeached and removed president Dina Boluarte early that day over corruption and rising crime rates.
With the absence of a vice president, as Congress president from the We Are Peru party, Jerí stepped in as interim president.
After a few months in office Jerí became embroiled in scandals the main one is known as “Chifagate” after a video emerged in December 26, 2025, showing Jerí entering a Chinese restaurant in Lima’s San Borja district owned by by Yang Zhihua, a wealthy Chinese businessman who has come under government scrutiny, shortly before midnight, his head covered, alongside the interior minister Vicente Tiburcio.
Jerí said the visit was to coordinate the anniversary celebration of the day of Peruvian-Chinese friendship and apologized for “giving rise to suspicions and doubts” about his behavior” by the way he was dressed, according to the Guardian.
However, another video later emerged on Jan. 6, showing Jerí visiting Yang's closed wholesale shop in central Lima, wearing dark glasses during a tense phone call.
Peruvian law requires presidents to log their official activities but these visits were not recorded on the president’s official agenda, according to the New York Times.
Yang had reportedly proposed a contract to install thousands of surveillance cameras on public buses, a project estimated to cost about US$30 million, local media reported.
It also reported that one of Yang’s stores had been ordered closed for violating a municipal ordinance and three days later the law that led to the closure was overturned.
Authorities said another Chinese citizen, Ji Wu Xiaodong, who was present at one of the meetings between Yang and Jerí, is accused of belonging to an illegal timber-trafficking network known as Los Hostiles de la Amazonia and had been placed under house arrest for two years.
Authorities then opened an investigation into alleged influence-peddling linked to the meetings with Yang.
Meanwhile, Jerí was facing scrutiny for allegedly hiring unqualified young women who secured government jobs after late-night meetings at the presidential palace, based on its official entry-and-exit log.
He has also faced accusations of sexual assault, stretching back to December 2024.
Opposition parties filed at least seven motions of censure — a vote of no confidence — against Jerí.
On Feb. 17, Jerí was removed from office after lawmakers voted him out with 75 in favor, 24 against and 3 abstentions.
The next day, lawmakers elected José María Balcázar as interim president.
Peru is scheduled to hold a general election on April 12, and will transfer power to a new president on July 28.
Sofia Hou
Sofia Hou
