Former presidents of Peru accused of corruption, dismissed or imprisoned.
👉 Peru's former President Pedro Castillo faced a court hearing Thursday over his arrest on rebellion charges, as his successor issued her first pronouncements from the presidential palace after a day that shocked the region.
Castillo's swift fall from power Wednesday came after congressional lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to remove the leader following his failed attempt to rule by decree and dissolve Congress to avoid a third impeachment vote.
His abrupt ouster underscores the Andean country's recent bouts of intense political instability, with five presidents in the last five years all unable to complete their elected terms.
Castillo, a former teacher and union activist who won a narrow victory in 2021 buoyed by poor rural and Indigenous voters, was arrested Wednesday on criminal charges of "rebellion and conspiracy," according to prosecutors. He simultaneously faced separate corruption allegations.
Some rural residents peacefully protested his arrest, shouting their lingering support for Castillo Thursday, according to images shown by local broadcaster Canal N, with some chanting in the city of Huancavelica, "New elections are urgent!"
Source: VOANEWS.COM