Peru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, was sworn in as the first woman to hold office in the country’s 200 years of independence. The 60-year-old leftist lawyer became the Andean nation’s new head of state on Wednesday, December 7th, and had served as vice-president to Pedro Castillo until he was hastily voted out of office by lawmakers after he attempted to shut the country’s congress.
After accepting the presidential sash in Peru, Boluarte said her first task at hand would be “to take action against corruption. This cancer has to be extirpated from the country.” After years of instability and unrest in the country, which has seen the legislative and executive branches at odds with each other, she added, “We need the best Peruvians. Governing Peru will not be an easy task. We will put together a cabinet of all blood to move the country forward.”
“As a native of Apurímac, I cannot but remember José María Arguedas and, in his memory, I commit myself to fight so that the nobodies, the excluded, and the outsiders have access to what they have always been denied,” Boluarte said in her acceptance speech. “I swear by God, by the homeland, by the Peruvians that I will defend democracy until 2026,” she concluded.
