In just three tumultuous hours, President Pedro Castillo went from decreeing the dissolution of Peru's Congress to being replaced by his vice president, but the threats against his government had been building throughout his nearly 17-month presidency.
The former school teacher and centre-left political novice, who won a runoff election in June 2021 by just 44,000 votes, stepped onto a no-holds-barred political battlefield in Peru, the South American country now on its sixth president in six years. By nightfall Wednesday (local time), after a day of high political drama, prosecutors had announced Castillo was under arrest, facing charges of rebellion.
From the start, Castillo's presidency seemed destined to be short-lived, said Flavia Freidenberg, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a member of the university's Latin America Political Reform Observatory.
"He is a president who took office with a very low level of support, he didn't have a political party, he had a hard time putting together a Cabinet, the Cabinet has changed constantly and there has been a constant power struggle with Congress," she said.
Castillo campaigned on promises to nationalise Peru's key mining industry and rewrite the constitution, gaining support in rural Peru.
But upon taking office in July 2021, Castillo immediately struggled with his Cabinet choices, a number of whom have been accused of wrongdoing.
"He didn't unify the country," said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas. "He doesn't even seem to make much of an effort along those lines."
Shortly before noon Wednesday (local time), Castillo went on state television and announced the dissolution of Congress. He said elections would be held to choose new lawmakers and a new constitution would be written.
Various members of his Cabinet resigned immediately. Vice President Dina Boluarte said via Twitter that the move only contributed to Peru's political crisis. The Supreme Court, Constitutional Tribunal and national ombudsman rejected it as an attempted coup.
Castillo was driven from the presidential palace through Lima's historic downtown to a police station.
Hours later, prosecutors announced that Castillo had been arrested on a charge of rebellion.
Two hours after his announcement, lawmakers who had ignored Castillo's decree voted to remove him.
This time they had the votes: 101 in favor, six against and 10 abstentions.
At 3pm Lima time, Dina Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, was sworn in as Peru's first female president.
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