28 Facts About Dina Boluarte

Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer who has been serving as the 64th president of Peru since 2022.

Dina Boluarte had served as the first vice president and minister at the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion under President Pedro Castillo.

Dina Boluarte served as an officer at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status from 2007 until 2022.

Dina Boluarte was a member of the Marxist political party Free Peru, and was sworn in following Castillo's attempt to dissolve Congress and subsequent impeachment and arrest.

Dina Boluarte has aligned herself with the right-wing majority of the Peruvian Congress, and received support from Peruvian Armed Forces.

Dina Boluarte was born in a Quechua-speaking peasant family in the village of Chalhuanca, Apurimac on 31 May 1962.

Dina Boluarte graduated as a lawyer from the University of San Martin de Porres and did postgraduate studies at that university.

Dina Boluarte's upbringing in poverty has not shielded her from accusations of exploiting her indigenous roots for political gain.

Dina Boluarte has worked at National Registry of Identification and Civil Status as an attorney and officer since 2007.

Dina Boluarte ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Lima's Surquillo district in 2018, representing the Free Peru party.

Dina Boluarte participated in the extraordinary parliamentary elections in 2020 for Free Peru, though she did not obtain a congressional seat.

On 23 January 2022, during an interview with La Republica, Dina Boluarte stated that she never embraced the ideology of Free Peru.

On 5 December 2022, after voting 13 in favor and 8 against, a constitutional complaint was filed by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations against Dina Boluarte, alleging that she operated a private club named the Apurimac Club while she was minister of Development.

On 7 December 2022, during the Peruvian political crisis, after Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve the Congress of the Republic of Peru during impeachment proceedings against him, Dina Boluarte condemned the move as a "breakdown of the constitutional order" and assumed the presidency after the impeachment of Castillo.

Dina Boluarte's presidency is the most recent instance in Peruvian history where the first vice president succeeded a president who could no longer serve, after First Vice President Martin Vizcarra became president upon the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018.

On 12 December, following protests that broke out after the removal of Pedro Castillo, President Dina Boluarte announced that she and Congress agreed to move the next general election from April 2024 to April 2026.

Dina Boluarte's response has been widely condemned by NGOs, while being supported by more right-leaning parties in Congress.

Amnesty International would report in May 2023 that Dina Boluarte "consistently supported and justified the actions of law enforcement agencies, despite increasingly clear evidence of their unlawful actions" and that her government "stigmatized protesters as terrorists and violent, contributing to the escalation of violence and encouraging law enforcement to continue to act in the same way".

Dina Boluarte would respond to criticism saying that she did not have control of the Peruvian Armed Forces.

Sources close to Dina Boluarte, according to La Republica, reported that she wanted to resign from the presidency following the massacre, though defense minister Alberto Otarola convinced her that if she were to resign, her and other ministers would lose their immunity and possibly be prosecuted for crimes.

Groups in Congress opposed to Dina Boluarte then opened an impeachment motion against her on 25 January 2023, citing moral incapacity.

Americas Quarterly notes that after Dina Boluarte was expelled from the Peru Libre party, she aligned with the right-wing Congress for political support instead of the constituents that elected her, creating a feeling of betrayal for rural and indigenous voters.

Sulmont would say that Dina Boluarte became a figurehead for Congress, serving the legislative body as a "shield between the population and the right-wing Congress" due to her sacrificing her political legitimacy by resorting to repression.

In January 2023, the first public opinion poll for Dina Boluarte was collected by the Institute of Peruvian Studies.

Dina Boluarte, who is a native Spanish speaker, is a Quechua heritage speaker with great fluency.

Dina Boluarte was married for many years to David Gomez Villasante.

Dina Boluarte has a brother, Nicanor Boluarte, who was arrested in 2024 on suspicion of influence-peddling.

In March 2025, it was revealed Dina Boluarte may have had a romantic relationship during her presidency with her former Club Apurimac coworker Juan Olazabal Segovia, as evidenced by private phone chats.