Peru's legislative body ousts temporary president before elections

Peru's legislative body ousts temporary president before elections

Peru’s Congress voted to remove interim President José Jerí after prosecutors opened a corruption probe into undisclosed meetings with Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang. 

Lawmakers cited possible illegal lobbying tied to Yang’s state concessions, while local reports linked another attendee to a timber-trafficking network. 

The scandal broke after video of the meetings was leaked, showing Jerí arriving late at night to a restaurant in December 2025 with a hood pulled over his head, and again in January wearing sunglasses. 

Jerí denied wrongdoing, saying the late-night meetings were about organizing a cultural event.