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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's Congress voted Friday to remove the
interior minister from office after deciding that he had failed
to adequately handle rising violent crime in the Andean country.
Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez by law has 72 hours to
leave his position after the no-confidence vote, which succeeded
with 78 votes in favor, 11 against and 20 abstentions.
Santiváñez insisted that he had worked hard alongside police
during his 10 months in office, but that he would respect the
lawmakers' decision.
Santiváñez must step down and take responsibility for his
“inability to address the wave of citizen insecurity the country
is facing,” the Peruvian Congress said on its X account.
Public outrage has surged over an increase in killings and other
violence, especially the killing Sunday of Paul Flores, the
39-year-old lead singer of the cumbia band Armonia 10. He was
fatally shot when assailants attacked his band's tour bus after
a concert in Lima.
In reaction to the Flores killing, President Dina Boluarte on
Monday declared a state of emergency in the capital and ordered
the deployment of soldiers to help police address the surge of
violence. That same day, opposition lawmakers requested a vote
of no confidence against the interior minister.
Boluarte’s government previously had decreed a state of
emergency from September to December in an attempt to stem the
violence.
Authorities reported 2,057 killings in 2024, up from 1,506 in
2023.
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