Peru presidential elections could be held later this year, says president 

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte announced on Friday that the government was considering holding the next presidential elections later this year, as the South American country continues to deal with violent protests that have left several dozen dead. 

On Friday, the country’s congress is set to debate a bill to move the presidential elections from 2026 to late 2024. However, many legislators are proposing to amend the bill to hold the elections as early as late 2023. 

“We put this bill to advance elections to December 2023 to the ministers for consideration,” Boluarte said.

''Nobody has any interest in clinging to power. I have no interest in remaining in the presidency. If I am here it is because I fulfilled my constitutional responsibility," she added.

Boluarte became Peru’s first female president after her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was removed from power for trying to dissolve Peru’s Congress and stage a coup d’etat. Castillo was subsequently arrested for the crime of rebellion while he was on his way to the Mexican embassy in Lima. 

After Boluarte assumed the presidency, however, protests broke out throughout the country demanding new elections, a change to the constitution, and her removal from office. 

Many of the protestors have taken to block national roads, leading the country’s security forces to crack down on demonstrators. On Friday, Peru’s Armed Forces said they will support the national police to remove the roadblocks after the defense ministry called them “illegal.”

The clashes between security forces and demonstrators have left at least 46 dead and have caused more than $1 billion in damages.