Peru's parliament voted on the night of 9-10 October to sack President Dina Boluarte Zegarra, citing her "permanent moral incapacity" to govern and perceived inability to get a grip on rampant crime and violence. One hundred and twenty one (or two) legislators attending the session (out of a total 130 members) all voted for her dismissal, which would have gone through with 87 votes. Parliament then appointed the Speaker José Jerí Oré as acting president ahead of the general elections scheduled for April 2026. Boluarte became president in late 2022 when parliament sacked her predecessor Pedro Castillo, and was Peru's first female president. Jerí would become the third president of Peru within Castillo's five-year presidential term, which began in 2021. In her last speech to the nation, Boluarte said she had performed her duties with "decency and honesty," and the constitution did not foresee the moral incapacity cited by parliament as a cause of impeachment. She called for transparent elections and urged voters to vote with discernment. "Think not once, not twice nor three times, think various times to whom you will give your vote," she said in her last public address.
Friday, 10 October 2025
Venezuelan opponent given Nobel peace prize
The conservative Venezuelan politician and leading opponent of the country's socialist regime María Corina Machado, was awarded the 2025 Nobel peace prize on 10 October, for her "tireless work promoting democratic rights" for Venezuelans and efforts toward a "just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Machado was banned from running for the presidency in 2024, but recognized as the country's leading opponent and the political force behind the liberal presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia. Maduro declared himself winner in those elections, facing down international skepticism, later prompting González to flee the country and Machado to go into hiding. She may have taken refuge inside the U.S. embassy in Caracas. World media had speculated on whether or not the prize would be given to the U.S. President Donald J. Trump, especially given his eagerness to receive it. The White House reacted saying the Nobel committee's decision was politicized, and praised Trump as being a relentless peacemaker with "the heart of a humanitarian." There were also criticisms on the Left: in Spain, the leftist politician and founder of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, wrote online that the committee had degraded the prize and might as well have given it to "Trump or even Hitler." He called Machado a "coupmonger," Spain's ABC reported on 10 October.