Peru's president impeached four months into term

Peru's Congress has voted to impeach interim President José Jerí just four months into his term for failing to disclose meetings with Chinese businessmen.

The scandal unfolded last month after videos emerged of Jerí meeting several times outside his official schedule with businessman Zhihua Yang, who was under government scrutiny.

Jerí had previously apologised for the meetings, but denied any wrongdoing and accused his rivals of a public smear campaign.

His removal from office makes him the third consecutive president to be ousted, after he replaced former leader Dina Boluarte who was impeached in October last year.

Jerí was Peru's seventh president since 2016 amid a tumultuous political landscape that has seen a succession of leaders leave the post under contentious circumstances.

Peru's Congress will vote on Wednesday for its next interim president.

Lawmakers voted 75 to 24 in favour of impeaching Jerí after a series of controversies dubbed "Chifa-gate" - after a local name for Chinese restaurants.

Security camera footage of Jerí's meetings with Yang, who owns several businesses and was granted a state concession for an energy project, was first reported by local media.

In one of the videos, Jerí could be seen wearing a hooded top during a late-night visit at one of Yang's restaurants.

Also present at one of the meetings was another Chinese citizen who was under house arrest while being investigated for alleged links to an illegal timber network.

Peruvian law requires presidents to document all their official activities, but the now former leader did not record those meetings.

Ruth Luque, one of the lawmakers who backed the censure measures, said she wanted a leader who would put public interest and security first.

"We ask to end this agony so we can truly create the transition citizens are hoping for," she said, according to Reuters. "Not a transition with hidden interests, influence-peddling, secret meetings and hooded figures. We don't want that sort of transition."

Pressure had been mounting for Jerí to resign in the wake of the scandal as he faced a corruption investigation launched by the attorney general and his approval ratings plummeted.

His impeachment marks another chapter of instability for Peru, which is due to hold a general election in April, when power will be transferred to a new president.

Less than a week after Jerí assumed power, protests organised by young Peruvians demanding the political class to do more to combat crime and corruption left one dead and more than 100 people injured.