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Dina Boluarte is discovering the risks of leading a country that jails ex-presidents so often that it built a\u00a0special prison<\/a>\u00a0to hold them.<\/p>\n Just a year into Boluarte\u2019s term as Peru\u2019s president,\u00a0about 80% of voters\u00a0<\/a>wanted her gone. That was before a scandal erupted over how exactly she came to own a collection of luxury goods, including a Rolex wristwatch she has sported at public events.<\/p>\n Now, as Boluarte battles allegations of corruption, her approval rating stands at 9%. But she has found a crucial pillar of support in an equally reviled institution: Congress.<\/p>\n An\u00a0Ipsos poll<\/a>\u00a0last month showed the splintered parliament faces almost identical ratings \u2014 9% approval and 85% rejection by the public. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Congress now seems likely to back Boluarte as she faces a criminal investigation over illegal enrichment. Last week on Holy Friday \u2014 a public holiday in Catholic Peru \u2014 police raided her private residence, forcing their way through the door. They then searched the presidential palace for luxury items and evidence about how she came to acquire them.<\/p>\n Boluarte has denied any wrongdoing, but also hasn\u2019t publicly explained how she obtained her seemingly expensive possessions. She has acknowledged owning at least one Rolex watch and prosecutors found documentation tying Boluarte to a\u00a0Datejust 36<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 prices of which start at $15,000 in Peru \u2014 during the raid.<\/p>\n \u2026en actividades dentro y fuera de Palacio\u2026\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/YEGAyiPB8x<\/a>\u2014 La Encerrona (@laencerronaperu)\u00a0March 14, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Her jewelry collection even includes a\u00a0Cartier bracelet<\/a>\u00a0worth $50,000, according to the newspaper La Republica. Boluarte hasn\u2019t denied that claim.<\/p>\n Before Boluarte gained the vice presidency in 2021 as part of the ticket in a Marxist-Leninist party, she was a public servant working for Peru\u2019s agency in charge of identity records. She declared an annual income of about $18,000 in that role.<\/p>\n As vice president and minister, she declared a monthly income of about $8,000, according to her official sworn statements. Her monthly income as president is $4,300.<\/p>\n In a nationwide address on Saturday, Boluarte called the police raid \u201carbitrary, disproportional and abusive,\u201d suggesting that criticism of her administration threatens the country\u2019s democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis situation is extremely serious and impacts the rights of my family, but mostly it affects the country\u2019s governability,\u201d she said in the address, flanked by her cabinet.<\/p>\n Two cabinet members \u2014 interior minister Victor Torres and women\u2019s minister Nancy Tolentino \u2014 announced their resignations on Monday, although neither cited the Rolex scandal. In his role as interior minister, Torres oversaw the national police, a unit of which was responsible for raiding Boluarte\u2019s residences on Friday.<\/p>\n The largest congressional bloc \u2014 Popular<\/a> Force \u2014 has backed multiple impeachment motions since 2017 that have forced out three presidents. But over the weekend, it said impeaching Boluarte would create \u201cinstability<\/a>\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n Last year, Boluarte\u00a0freed<\/a>\u00a0jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, the father of Keiko Fujimori, the head of Popular Force.<\/p>\n Boluarte\u2019s top aide, Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen, faces a confirmation vote in Congress later this week. And while a left-wing lawmaker has filed an impeachment motion against the president over the luxury items, she has already comfortably survived two ouster attempts since taking over.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the illegal-enrichment investigation, Boluarte faces a homicide probe over her role in the deaths of almost 50 protesters who were killed in anti-government demonstrations during the first few months of her presidency.<\/p>\n Boluarte, whose term is set to end in July 2026, cannot be arrested while in office. She cannot run for reelection. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Rolex and other luxury items clash with the image Boluarte has sought to project as a politician. She was elected as vice president in 2021 as part of a party that went on to win overwhelming support among Peru\u2019s poorest citizens while being rejected by its wealthiest citizens.<\/p>\n After her predecessor was impeached and arrested, Boluarte has insisted that she is a woman of humble origins, often speaking in the indigenous language Quechua in national addresses to differentiate herself from whiter elites in Lima.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first female president in the 200 years of our country\u2019s history does not give up,\u201d Boluarte said in her Saturday address. \u201cI came in with clean hands to the presidency and I will go out in the same way in 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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