Police in Peru arrested President Pedro Castillo on Wednesday, soon after the country's parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach him, state news agency Andina reported.
Andina said on Wednesday that President Castillo was being questioned by prosecutors in Lima Prefecture.
Peru’s parliament approved the president's impeachment on Wednesday, just after he announced the temporary dissolution of the legislature in an attempt to avoid being deposed.
In a televised address, President Castillo had also announced the establishment of an extraordinary government that would rule by decree, along with the imposition of a curfew and a call for new elections.
Vice President Dina Boluarte succeeds Castillo
This met immediately with strong criticism. The former Vice-President Dina Boluarte, from the same ruling centre-left coalition, has been voted as his successor and is the first woman president of the country. In her speech, she condemned the actions of the former leader: "There has been an attempted coup d'état."
Castillo, whom the opposition-dominated parliament, was accused of “moral incapacity” to govern, a provision in the constitution for which two presidents have already been dismissed since 2018.
Wednesday's impeachment was televised live, with 101 parliamentarians voted in favour, six against and 10 abstained, demonstrating how Castillo's own party also turned against him.
Since becoming president a year and a half ago, Castillo had already survived two no-confidence motions, the last one in March 2022.
