Peru's 'Poor President' Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Rebellion
Pedro Castillo, Peru's ousted leftwing president, has been sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison for his attempt to disband Congress and rule by decree in December 2022. The former rural schoolteacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency as a candidate promising to uplift the country's poor, was labeled "Peru's first poor president" due to his humble origins.
Castillo's decision to dissolve Congress, which was dominated by opposition parties, was seen as an attempt to avoid impeachment for alleged corruption. However, it backfired spectacularly, with members of his own government siding against him. His stunt sparked mass protests among his working-class rural base, which were harshly repressed, resulting in at least 50 deaths.
The supreme court verdict comes a day after another leftwing ex-president, Martín Vizcarra, was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for bribe-taking while serving as a regional governor. Castillo had repeatedly clashed with Congress during his 16 months in power and had been imprisoned pending trial at a special penitentiary for ex-leaders.
Castillo's case took a dramatic turn earlier this month when his former prime minister, Betssy Chávez, also put in the dock, was given asylum by the Mexican embassy. Peru broke off diplomatic ties with Mexico over what it called an "unfriendly act" and has not ruled out storming the Mexican embassy to arrest her.
The sentencing brings an end to a tumultuous period in Peruvian politics, marked by widespread protests, repression, and impeachment of two successive leftwing presidents. Castillo's successor, Dina Boluarte, led the country for 22 months but was also impeached in October. The verdict serves as a reminder of the consequences of attempting to bypass democratic institutions and rule by decree.
Pedro Castillo, Peru's ousted leftwing president, has been sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison for his attempt to disband Congress and rule by decree in December 2022. The former rural schoolteacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency as a candidate promising to uplift the country's poor, was labeled "Peru's first poor president" due to his humble origins.
Castillo's decision to dissolve Congress, which was dominated by opposition parties, was seen as an attempt to avoid impeachment for alleged corruption. However, it backfired spectacularly, with members of his own government siding against him. His stunt sparked mass protests among his working-class rural base, which were harshly repressed, resulting in at least 50 deaths.
The supreme court verdict comes a day after another leftwing ex-president, Martín Vizcarra, was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for bribe-taking while serving as a regional governor. Castillo had repeatedly clashed with Congress during his 16 months in power and had been imprisoned pending trial at a special penitentiary for ex-leaders.
Castillo's case took a dramatic turn earlier this month when his former prime minister, Betssy Chávez, also put in the dock, was given asylum by the Mexican embassy. Peru broke off diplomatic ties with Mexico over what it called an "unfriendly act" and has not ruled out storming the Mexican embassy to arrest her.
The sentencing brings an end to a tumultuous period in Peruvian politics, marked by widespread protests, repression, and impeachment of two successive leftwing presidents. Castillo's successor, Dina Boluarte, led the country for 22 months but was also impeached in October. The verdict serves as a reminder of the consequences of attempting to bypass democratic institutions and rule by decree.
Pedro Castillo's sentence better be worth it, like 11 yrs is a lot... cant believe he tried to just dissolves congress lol what was he thinkin? poor guy got played hard 
anyhoo, seems like Peru's got some deep issues w/ democracy & rule of law 
guess dina boluarte learned her lesson after his fall 
his whole "poor president" thing was just a publicity stunt, but you can't fake humility for 11 years in prison 
imagine being stuck in that cell with no internet or games to play, it's a total bummer. anyway, the supreme court verdict is like, super expected, these people gotta face the music 
and who knows, maybe this will be the end of all this drama in peru... a girl can dream 
gotta feel bad for Pedro Castillo, huh? Poor dude got played by his own people... like, literally took on Congress and got owned. 
. Anyway, 11 years in the slammer seems like a pretty sweet deal for trying to overthrow democracy. Guess you get what's coming when you try to be a rebel without a cause 
. I feel for the victims of those protests, though - 50 deaths is just heartbreaking 
. It's crazy how politics can get so out of hand and people lose sight of what's really important 
. And now this is gonna set a bad example for all the other politicians out there, like "if you don't do what we say, you'll end up in prison" 
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and now the whole country is paying the price 
... Peru and Mexico have a history of being close friends, maybe they'll work something out? Anyway, it just goes to show you how fragile the line is between democracy and authoritarianism 
. its sad that his attempt to avoid impeachment backfired and led to widespread protests and repression 
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, though. I guess you could say she's the ultimate "Breaking Bad" protagonist - one minute she's a key player in Peruvian politics, next thing you know she's on the run and living it up in Mexico 
The fact that he went down for it is just proof that the system is rigged against people like him who are willing to take risks. 
. And what's with all the controversy around Betssy Chávez getting asylum? Is it really that serious? 
. It just goes to show how out of touch our leaders can be sometimes. I mean, Pedro Castillo came into office promising to help the poor, but it seems like he ended up hurting his own base instead 
. I guess we'll just have to keep fighting for a better system that puts people over politics 
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instead of trying to rig the system and maintain control for himself. 11 years in prison seems like a pretty severe sentence, especially considering he was already being impeached on corruption charges when he tried to dissolve Congress 
and even the Mexican embassy had to intervene to save one of them.