The police and prosecutors in Peru carried out a shock raid on the residence of President Dina Boluarte and the presidential palace early Saturday as a part of an “illegal enrichment” investigation into information reviews that she had been seen carrying Rolex watches since taking workplace.
The raid, which got here as Peruvians have been celebrating the Holy Week vacation, shocked many individuals, even in a rustic that has grown accustomed over the previous 20 years to politicians investigated for alleged corruption.
Earlier than midnight on Good Friday, the police used a battering ram to drive their manner into Ms. Boluarte’s residence in Lima, in line with stay protection on Latina Noticias. Prosecutors and the police then searched Ms. Boluarte’s workplace and residence within the presidential palace.
The president had failed to look this week for a scheduled appointment with prosecutors to point out them three Rolex watches she has worn and to clarify how she obtained them. She additionally refused to permit them into her home to execute a search warrant, in line with Lawyer Common Juan Villena, who advised lawmakers that her refusal was “a transparent indicator of revolt.”
The investigation into Ms. Boluarte started on March 18, after the net information program La Encerrona revealed that she had began carrying more and more costly watches, together with no less than one Rolex, since taking workplace in December 2022. Prosecutors suspect her of violating the nation’s legal guidelines in opposition to illegal enrichment and failing to declare belongings. In Peru, the elected authorities should report back to the federal government any belongings price greater than 10,300 soles, or about $2,774, and disclose any presents obtained from third events.
Native information retailers have since reported that Ms. Boluarte has worn three different Rolex watches, in addition to a $50,000 Cartier bracelet, and that banking authorities have detected about $300,000 in deposits of unknown origin made to her private accounts earlier than she took workplace.
The mannequin of Rolex watches she has reportedly worn prices no less than $14,000, in line with La Encerrona.
Ms. Boluarte has denied wrongdoing, however she has additionally declined to clarify the origin of the Rolexes publicly, saying solely that the primary Rolex watch that drew consideration was an merchandise “from way back.” “It’s in my DNA to not be corrupt,” she advised journalists on March 15. “What I’ve is the fruit of my efforts and my work.”
In a televised tackle on Saturday, Ms. Boluarte, flanked by ministers in her cupboard, blamed information retailers for creating “smoke screens” that gas “chaos and uncertainty,” She referred to as on Peruvians to march to defend democracy.
“I’m an trustworthy lady. I entered the presidential palace with clear arms, and that’s how I’ll go away in 2026,” she mentioned. “Let’s march right this moment for reality and idealism and hug each other with a single coronary heart.”
Ms. Boluarte’s surrogates have urged different explanations. Hania Pérez de Cuéllar, her housing minister and the previous head of the company that protects mental property, urged that the Rolex is perhaps faux and admitted to purchasing a counterfeit luxurious watch herself on a visit to China. A lawyer for Ms. Boluarte mentioned early Saturday that she might need obtained the watches from a “fan” who needed to stay nameless.
Justice Minister Eduardo Arana referred to as the raids “unconstitutional” and “disproportionate” and appealed to lawmakers for “unity” within the face of what he described as an try to destabilize the federal government.
“Justice is being politicized,” he mentioned in a information convention with different ministers. “The aim is to rupture the federal government, democracy and institutionality.” He declined to reply questions from journalists.
It was unclear whether or not the Rolex controversy would value Ms. Boluarte key assist.
The inside ministry, which controls the nationwide police, expressed assist for her, saying in a publish on X that it rejected “acts that have an effect on the event of the nation, cloaked in questionable judicial provisions.”
“We reaffirm our dedication to proceed working for the nation’s inside order,” the ministry wrote.
A few of Ms. Boluarte’s allies on the fitting blamed her for letting the state of affairs escalate. And once-friendly information retailers have adopted a extra vital stance, an indication that persistence could also be carrying skinny amongst her supporters.
The controversy over the Rolex watches comes because the economic system is flagging and starvation is rising in Peru, a rustic that gained worldwide reward for consolidating its democracy and using a mining-fueled commodities growth to drag thousands and thousands of its residents from poverty. The investigative information program Cuarto Poder reported that Ms. Boluarte wore one Rolex mannequin price greater than $18,000 at an occasion in February to handle poverty in weak populations.
Some political observers mentioned the scandal may open the door to a brand new spherical of political turmoil in a rustic that has had six presidents prior to now six years.
Each manner out of the present disaster appeared to result in “a useless finish,” the Peruvian political scientist Gonzalo Banda mentioned in an interview. If she remained in workplace, belief in democracy was prone to additional diminish, with unpredictable penalties, he mentioned.
“In Peru, you may have a political class not responding to residents, so residents develop extra distant from politics, extra disaffected from politics, extra fed up with politics, which doesn’t imply they’re not paying consideration,” Mr. Banda mentioned. “All that discontent goes to be unleashed in a brand new election.”
In keeping with a ballot in January, Ms. Boluarte is the least common president in Latin America, with an approval ranking of simply 9 %.
A former civil servant turned politician for a Marxist get together, she served as President Pedro Castillo’s vice chairman. She succeeded him after he was impeached in 2022 and arrested for asserting that he was taking on Congress and the justice system.
Ms. Boluarte’s determination to exchange Mr. Castillo as an alternative of resigning — as she as soon as promised she would do to make manner for brand spanking new elections — set off violent protests in opposition to her authorities in late 2022 and early 2023, with 49 civilians killed in police and navy crackdowns. She is at the moment beneath investigation by nationwide human rights prosecutors.
Ms. Boluarte can be the co-author of a e-book on human rights legislation that’s beneath investigation for plagiarism.
Earlier than taking workplace, Ms. Boluarte earned $1,100 per 30 days as a bureaucrat with the state company that produces identification paperwork. As minister, she earned about $8,000 per 30 days, and as president makes a bit of over $4,000 per 30 days.
Because the authorities retrieved containers from Ms. Boluarte’s residences, a lawmaker introduced that her former leftist get together had secured enough assist for a movement for an impeachment vote in Congress, the place Ms. Boluarte has relied on a coalition of right-wing and centrist events to outlive.
Though solely 26 votes are required for a movement to question, 87 votes — or two-thirds of the legislators — are wanted for passage.
Since 2016, when back-to-back corruption scandals began fueling high-stakes political battles in Peru, two presidents, Mr. Castillo and Martín Vizcarra, have been impeached. One, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned to keep away from an impeachment vote. All dwelling former Peruvian presidents besides one, Francisco Sagasti, who ruled from late 2020 to mid-2021, have come beneath investigation for corruption or human rights abuses. In 2019, the previous president Alan García killed himself to keep away from arrest.
Congressman Alejandro Muñante, of the far-right Renovación Common get together, mentioned on X that Ms. Boluarte had completed herself no favors together with her silence in current weeks.
“Staying quiet has value the president lots and can proceed to take action if she retains choosing this horrible protection technique,” Mr. Muñante mentioned. “Boluarte nonetheless has time to clear this up. If she doesn’t, a brand new succession wouldn’t be in any respect loopy.”
