Peru is in the midst of a political and civil crisis. Triggered by the recent removal from power of former leader Pedro Castillo, the protests have exposed deep divisions within the country and are being encouraged by a confluence of internal factors and external agitators.

Vice President Dina Boluarte — who speaks both Spanish and Quechua — replaced Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the departing president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote.

A major blackout last week left more than 1.5 million clients —including households, businesses, and schools— without electricity, and over 160,000 without water. Authorities reported on Sunday morning that electricity had been restored to almost all clients.

Leading presidential candidate Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that the Black environmentalist lawyer Francia Márquez will serve as his running mate in May’s presidential elections. Márquez is the first Black woman to run in presidential elections in Colombia’s history.

Peru’s Constitutional Court on Thursday approved the release from prison of former President Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year sentence for murder and corruption charges.

While more than 55 percent of Peruvians have gotten at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines, only about 25 percent of people in Indigenous areas have been vaccinated.

Castillo is not a liberal—he’s a leftist with a social agenda.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A teacher in one of the poorest communities in the Andes who had never held office is now Peru’s president-elect after officials in the South American country declared him the winner of a runoff election held last month.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A rural teacher-turned-political novice and the daughter of an imprisoned former president traded the lead Monday in a tight race for Peru’s presidency in a runoff election as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter the Andean country.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The daughter of an imprisoned former president was leading the race for Peru’s presidency late Sunday, hours after polls closed in a runoff election held as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter the Andean country.

The shelters will be run by the country’s child welfare agency and will be located in different places in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas.

Conservative businessman Guillermo Lasso beat out leftist Andrés Araúz in presidential elections on Sunday and will be the next president of Ecuador.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A surging coronavirus pandemic that has brought on new lockdown measures and exacerbated fatigue in Ecuador and Peru has left many voters generally indifferent to the names they will see on the ballots Sunday, when the neighboring South American nations are set to choose new presidents.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is on trial for his role in a 1990s government program in which many Indigenous women in poor communities say they were forcibly sterilized, and some died or suffered serious injuries because of infection.

During Fujimori’s corrupt military-backed rule between 1990 and 2000, Peru’s democratic institutions were dismantled and its democratic values subverted. Dissenters faced death, disappearance and torture.

I was sitting in my kitchen with my dad, nervously waiting for the voting in Peru’s Congress to begin on November 9.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Who is the president of Peru?

That answer to that question early Monday was no one.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — When Peru’s legislature voted President Martín Vizcarra from office this week, they may have done more than just oust a popular leader—they likely put the country’s best chance at making a dent on endemic corruption on hold.

How many votes are stored in at least 125 briefcases remains unknown, as some contain three while others 500 ballots.

The case was the first to be filed before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and centers around the cases of five women.

MIAMI (AP) — Even in a pandemic, there’s no slowdown for swindlers in Latin America.