Another former Peruvian president, the fifth, was sentenced to prison

The former Peruvian left-wing president Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) was sentenced on Thursday to 11 years and 5 months in prison for attempted coup d'état, inform international press agencies, quoted by Agerpres and News.ro.

The court held that the rebellion that Castillo wanted to trigger did not materialize, which is why the prosecution did not ask for a 34-year prison sentence.

On December 7, 2022, Castillo addressed a message to the Peruvian nation, ordering the temporary dissolution of parliament and announcing that he would rule by decree. The opposition-dominated Congress would have impeached him on suspicion of corruption, but on the same day he took that decision under charges of rebellion and high treason, and the president was arrested.

On Wednesday, just one day before Castillo, another former president, Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020), was sentenced to prison in Peru. He received a four-year prison sentence for corruption during his tenure as governor of the southern Moquegua region in the early 2010s.

Five former presidents behind bars

Two more former presidents, Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) and Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), are imprisoned in the special prison where Castillo and Vizcarra are. Their names thus join a growing list of former leaders imprisoned in this South American country, which has put five former presidents behind bars.

Peru has had no fewer than six presidents since 2018, due to a series of impeachments and resignations, often prompted by corruption scandals.

After Castillo's dismissal, his vice-president at the time, Dina Boluarte, took power. She was dismissed in early October after Congress declared her “morally unfit” to govern. Boluarte was replaced by Jose Jeri, who will end his presidential term in July 2026.

Presidential elections in Peru are scheduled for April next year.