Peru’s Congress removed President Jose Jeri from office on Tuesday following a scandal involving secret late-night meetings with a Chinese businessman, an episode quickly dubbed “Chifagate” by local media. Lawmakers voted 75-24, with three abstentions, censuring Jeri for failing to report encounters with Zhihua Yang, owner of a Lima restaurant and a wholesale business, whose companies have supplied the Peruvian state. The extraordinary congressional session debated seven censure motions filed over a single week, underscoring the severity of the political crisis.
Jeri’s party, Somos Peru, attempted to block the censure by arguing that only a presidential vacancy procedure could remove him, but the motion was defeated 71-34. The ousted president did not attend the debate, maintaining that the process denied him the opportunity to mount a defense. Last month, in a televised interview, he rejected calls to resign voluntarily, labeling the release of videos as part of a political operation aimed at destabilizing his government ahead of elections.
The controversy began in late December when TV footage showed Jeri entering a Chinese restaurant in Lima’s San Borja district shortly before midnight, accompanied by Interior Minister Vicente Tiburcio. Days later, he was filmed visiting Yang’s wholesale store, which municipal authorities had temporarily closed that same day for regulatory violations. Neither visit appeared on the president’s official schedule, a breach of transparency rules. Local reports suggested Yang had expressed interest in a $30 million contract to install surveillance cameras on public buses, raising questions about potential influence. Government officials acknowledged discussions with Chinese business representatives but denied any irregularities.
Additional scrutiny arose after reports that another Chinese businessman, Ji Wu Xiaodong—under house arrest for alleged links to illegal logging—had entered the presidential palace multiple times between December and January. Jeri denied knowledge of Ji’s legal situation and rejected allegations of wrongdoing. The Attorney General’s office has launched a preliminary investigation into possible influence peddling and illegal sponsorship of interests, though criminal proceedings could only begin after Jeri leaves office due to presidential immunity.
Jeri assumed office in October through constitutional succession after the removal of Dina Boluarte, becoming Peru’s seventh president in a decade. His tenure lasted just 130 days, continuing a pattern of political turbulence in which leaders have faced resignations, impeachments, or forced removals. Outside Congress, small groups of protesters demanded Jeri’s resignation, while polls already reflected a steep decline in his popularity, with approval dropping to 37 percent, a 21-point fall since taking office.
Congressional leaders announced plans to elect a new head of Congress on Wednesday, who will assume the presidency under constitutional succession rules until the general elections in April. These elections will determine the next president, two vice presidents, and a new legislature, as Peru confronts yet another chapter of political instability.
