While Peru tries to assimilate the impact of the ‘Chifagate’the world has already passed its sentence: the international press observes with a mixture of cynicism and alarm how José Jerí, the seventh Peruvian president in ten years, falls through the same back door as his predecessors.
Just weeks away from April general electionCongress decided to censure the interim president after a series of questions that included semi-clandestine meetings with Chinese businessmen and alleged irregularities in contracting within the State. The decision not only reconfigures the internal political table, but has also been read abroad as a new episode of the prolonged Peruvian political crisis.
From Europe to the United States, internationally renowned media outlets put this unusual news on the front page, highlighting the speed with which the head of state fell, just four months after taking office. The call “Chifagate”tax investigations and the context of structural instability were central axes in the coverage that analyzed what happened in Lima.
The British network emphasized the historical dimension of the event: “The Congress of Peru dismisses José Jerí, the seventh president in 10 years (and just two months before the elections)”headlined on its digital cover. The media highlighted that Parliament approved the motion of censure with 75 votes in favor, 24 against and three abstentions, leaving both the presidency of Congress and the Republic vacant.
The BBC contextualized Jerí’s fall within a “new political crisis” and recalled that the president had taken over after the vacancy of Dina Boluarte, in his capacity as president of the Legislature. He also explained that, in accordance with the Peruvian Constitution, it is now up to elect his successor in Congress, who will automatically assume the leadership of the State until July 28.
The British media detailed the scandals that precipitated the censorship, among them the meeting at a Chinese food restaurant in San Borja with the businessman Zhihua Yang—an episode that in Peru was baptized as “Chifagate”— and the complaints about the hiring of young women who had visited the Government Palace. The coverage highlighted that the “different and contradictory versions” offered by Jerí did not convince the congressmen.
The Spanish newspaper opted for a narrative approach that appealed to the institutional fatigue that the country is going through. “This Tuesday, Peru suffered the same déjà vu that has marked its last decade”he wrote in his chronicle from Lima, alluding to the reiteration of presidents who do not complete their terms.
El País recalled that Jerí, a 39-year-old lawyer, was dismissed just four months after having succeeded Dina Boluarte, also removed by Congress. The media highlighted that the president’s fate depended on the “political calculation of the benches” in a pre-electoral context, where the parties seek to position themselves for the April 12 elections.
The publication dedicated ample space to the story of late night meeting scandal with Chinese businessmen, pointing out that the spread of the hooded videos in a restaurant generated suspicions that quickly eroded his political support. In addition, he highlighted that a survey by Datum Internacional showed that 68% of Peruvians considered that Jerí was suspected of having committed acts of corruption.
The French channel described the scene as “Peru’s perfect storm”highlighting that Parliament debated seven vacancy motions against the interim president for alleged influence peddling. France 24 placed emphasis on the legislative procedure and the legal discussion about whether it was appropriate to apply the vacancy figure with 87 votes – as to an elected president – or prosecute him as head of Congress.
The coverage developed in detail the sequence of the Chifagateincluding security videos in which Jerí is seen entering a Chinese food restaurant masked and visiting a store linked to businessman Zhihua ‘Johnny’ Yang. He also mentioned the investigations into alleged irregular hiring and the activation of tax investigations into aggravated influence peddling.
France 24 framed the impeachment within a broader trend: since 2016, Peru has seen seven presidents parade, several of them removed or judicially prosecuted, which reinforces the international image of institutional instability.
The Spanish agency summarized the process as “the fleeting rise and fall of José Jerí.” In his office from Lima, he highlighted that the Somos Perú lawyer went in a few months from being a congressman to presiding over the Legislature and then to occupying the presidential seat, before being censured by the same Parliament that brought him to power.
EFE reviewed the main questions that surrounded his management: the semi-clandestine meetings with Chinese businessmen, the complaints about hiring in the State and a complaint for alleged rape previously filed due to lack of biological evidence. The agency also recalled that Jerí tried to promote security measures with a style compared by some analysts to that of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador.
The coverage placed the impeachment within the framework of a decade marked by presidents who do not complete their constitutional terms, highlighting that the country has had seven leaders in the last ten years.
The German media reported that Congress removed the interim president after a “brief impeachment trial” for functional misconduct and lack of suitability. Deutsche Welle highlighted that Peru is thus experiencing its eighth presidential change since 2016 and explained that the new head of Congress will automatically assume the presidency until July 28.
DW stressed that seven motions of censure were admitted and that the decision was motivated by investigations related to semi-clandestine meetings and alleged irregularities in hiring. He also mentioned that the group of conservative parties that initially supported Jerí withdrew their confidence in him amid the deterioration of his popularity.
The international coverage coincides on a central point: the presidential impeachment in Peru once again projects to the outside the image of a political system subject to constant changes at the top of power, in the midst of a new electoral process.
