BREAKING: Peru’s president detained after announcing the dissolution of congress

In a chaotic day the President of Peru Pedro Castillo dissolved the countries congress and announced a new constitution only to be detained himself.

Appearing on TV on Wednesday, December 7 Castillo said that he had dissolved congress and that he would set up an emergency government. At the same time, he announced a night-time curfew.

The denunciation of the move was swift with his own Vice-President Dina Boluarte accusing Castillo of staging a coup d’état.

Within hours of his announcement his own party have dismissed the president along with the support of the opposition and senior government officials.

The action set off a chain of resignations in reaction to the announcement by Castillo, a leftist outsider who came to power barely a year ago.

Castillo, who was facing the third impeachment, took the action hours before he was due to face Congress. The deputies ignored the president’s actions and voted by a large majority of 101 to impeach him.

In his televised announcement Castillo said he intended to call elections as soon as possible, within a period of less than nine months, but that in the meantime the country would be governed by decree.

He said that he was responding to the demands of citizens and that he has taken the decision to establish the rule of law and democracy. He said it was therefore necessary to temporarily dissolve the Congress of the Republic.

Among the announcements he made was the “reorganisation of the justice system, the judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Justice Board and the Constitutional Court.”

In a move reminiscent of the self-coup carried out by President Alberto Fujimori in 1992, Castillo said that: “The most extreme political adversaries are uniting with the sole purpose of making the government fail in order to take power without having won an election.”

But unlike Fujimoro, Castillo appears to be alone and without the support of the military or his supporters who also deem his announcement to be a coup d’état.

The night-time curfew between 10 pm and 4 am was due to come into force tonight but with Peru’s president detained after announcing the dissolution of congress, it appears that none of his announcements will be implemented or enacted.

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