Early Life and Background
Born on November 13, 1986, in Lima, Peru, José Enrique Jerí Oré grew up in a middle‑class family in the national capital. From his early years, Jerí demonstrated an interest in law and public affairs. He pursued legal studies at Federico Villarreal National University, earning a law degree, and later pursued additional legal qualifications at Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University. These academic foundations framed much of his early professional life, grounding him in the legal protocols and institutional frameworks that he would later both navigate and challenge.
Jerí’s path into political life was not immediate. It took sustained effort, party affiliation, and tactical decisions that reflected both ambition and opportunism. His affiliation with the centrist political party Somos Perú (We Are Peru) began in 2013, a time when the party was seeking to expand its influence among young professionals and lawyers. In these early years, Jerí served in roles such as youth secretary and alternate legal representative, roles that offered him insight into party mechanics and helped him build connections with senior party figures.
Before being elected to public office, Jerí made attempts to enter municipal politics in Lima. Notably, he ran for a council seat in the 2013 Lima municipal elections with the backing of established politician Fernando Andrade, and again in 2014, though both candidacies were unsuccessful. These early defeats, however, did not deter him. Instead, they offered important lessons in political organizing and electorate engagement.
Entry into National Politics
Jerí’s first substantive break into national politics came in 2021 when he was elected to the Congress of the Republic of Peru. Though he received only 11,654 preferential votes as a candidate on the Somos Perú list for Lima, his entry into Congress was aided by the disqualification of Martín Vizcarra – a former president of Peru – who was barred from taking his seat due to allegations connected to the vaccine scandal known as Vacunagate. Thanks to this vacancy, Jerí assumed the congressional seat originally won by Vizcarra.
Once in Congress, Jerí aligned himself with key political developments. He supported the impeachment of President Pedro Castillo in December 2022, a high‑stakes political maneuver that reflected broader political fractures in Peru. He also served as chairman of the Budget Committee, where he played roles in fiscal legislation and oversight – activities that bolstered his profile but also drew scrutiny from critics who questioned his motivations and alliances.
Despite rhetoric about reform and accountability, Jerí’s tenure in Congress was not without controversy. In July 2025, the Federación Peruana de Cajas Municipales de Ahorro y Crédito (FEPCMAC) denounced him before the Congressional Ethics Committee, alleging that he supported a dubious law allowing former committee members to take leadership positions in municipal savings banks – an initiative critics claimed would undermine financial governance and enhance political patronage networks.
Rise to the Presidency of Congress
Jerí’s larger breakthrough in national governance occurred on July 26, 2025, when he was elected President of the Congress of the Republic for the 2025–2026 legislative period. His candidacy was a product of political alliances across several parties, including Free Peru, Popular Force, Alliance for Progress, Acción Popular, Avanza País, and his own Somos Perú. The broad coalition that supported him showcased his growing ability to forge ties beyond his party’s core constituency, and placed him at the center of Peru’s legislative power.
As President of Congress, Jerí was positioned within a crucial constitutional role: he was second in the line of succession to the presidency. His leadership in this role was expected to bolster legislative decisiveness in a period of political fragmentation and widespread public distrust. However, it also placed him at the intersection of competing interests—executive, legislative, and the pressures of an electorate disenchanted with political elites.
Becoming Interim President of Peru
The watershed moment for Jerí’s career came on October 10, 2025. In a dramatic turn of events, Peru’s Congress impeached and removed President Dina Boluarte, who had herself come to office under controversial circumstances. Boluarte’s removal, carried out through constitutional processes citing “moral incapacity,” cleared the path for Jerí, as President of Congress, to assume the presidency of Peru.
At 38 years old, Jerí became one of the youngest presidents in Peru’s history and the first millennial to hold the post. His supporters heralded this as a generational shift in leadership—a break from the entrenched political elites whose recurrent scandals had produced almost a decade of instability. With this rise, however, came immense expectations and equally significant scrutiny.
In his inaugural address, delivered before a fractured parliament and an anxious nation, Jerí outlined ambitious goals. He framed his administration as a “government of transition, empathy, and national reconciliation,” emphasizing the urgent need to combat crime in the country and to ensure transparent and fair national elections scheduled for 2026. This focus on security and democratic legitimacy resonated with citizens fatigued by political chaos, albeit it also raised expectations that would prove difficult to fulfill.
Bringing Crime and Security to the Forefront
One of the early marks of Jerí’s short presidency was his emphasis on security operations aimed at tackling entrenched criminal networks operating within Peru. In October 2025, he personally oversaw the launch of Operation “Ciclón”, a coordinated law enforcement campaign in several major penal institutions. The goal was to disrupt illegal communications, contraband flow, and organized criminal operations conducted from within prisons—an endemic problem that has plagued the Peruvian justice system for years.
Operation Ciclón was widely publicized as a bold move against criminality. The simultaneous raids across multiple penitentiaries were seen as emblematic of Jerí’s tough‑on‑crime posture, appealing to a public frustrated by rampant extortion, gang violence, and corruption within the prison system itself. Yet while the operation gained momentary support among segments of the populace, it also highlighted deeper structural deficiencies: the lack of sustainable judicial reform, inadequate social safety nets, and competing priorities between executive action and legislative oversight.
Domestic and Social Challenges
The initial months of Jerí’s presidency were marked by enormous social pressure. Public protests, some of which erupted in October 2025, voiced dissatisfaction with his ascent, with critics arguing that his rise represented not genuine reform but political maneuvering within a broken system. Clashes between protestors and police resulted in scores of injuries and at least one death, amplifying tensions and underscoring deep divides between government and civil society.
In November 2025, Jerí embarked on an unexpected campaign to bolster his image. He engaged not only in political messaging but also in culturally resonant activities. For instance, Jerí was featured participating in religious processions and publicly aligning himself with traditional symbols revered by many Peruvians. At the same time, international observers noted that he maintained a robust presence on social media platforms, leveraging digital communication to amplify his narrative and garner support. These moves seemed designed to counter mounting skepticism about his leadership credentials.
However, even these efforts were insufficient to contain growing controversy and eroding public trust.
The Scandals and the Chifa‑gate Controversy
By late 2025 and early 2026, several scandals had begun to overshadow Jerí’s presidency. One of the most damaging was the emergence of videos and reports revealing unofficial meetings with Chinese businessmen—notably a figure named Zhihua Yang—conducted outside formal governmental channels and without proper documentation or public transparency. These meetings, colloquially dubbed “Chifa‑gate” by the media due to one such encounter taking place in a Chinese restaurant at night, sparked fierce backlash from opposition lawmakers and civil society alike.
The controversies deepened as media investigations revealed a series of opaque interactions and purported irregularities in the public contracting of individuals who had met with Jerí in the Presidential Palace. Allegations included possible influence peddling, trafficking of influence, and inappropriate hiring practices after late‑night gatherings involving certain women who later received contracts or positions linked to state agencies. These developments fueled a narrative that Jerí’s presidency was not only marred by questionable alliances but entwined with actions that blurred the boundaries between public duty and personal connections.
In January 2026, under intensified scrutiny, Jerí was summoned to appear before the Congressional Fiscalization Committee to provide explanations regarding these unregistered meetings and alleged improprieties. He pledged cooperation and even announced intentions to lift the secrecy on his communications in the interest of transparency—though critics remained skeptical, highlighting that such gestures came too late to stem growing mistrust.
Political Downfall and Removal from Office
The culmination of these scandals occurred on February 17, 2026, when Peru’s Congress voted to censure and remove José Jerí from office. Instead of pursuing formal impeachment—which requires a supermajority- lawmakers passed a vote of no confidence targeted at his role as President of Congress. Under Peruvian constitutional rules, this censure effectively stripped him of the congressional leadership that had enabled his presidency in the first place, thereby ending his tenure as interim President of Peru as well.
With the resignation of Jerí from the presidential post, the line of succession was disrupted. The acting President of Congress, Fernando Rospigliosi, initially declined to assume the presidency, prompting lawmakers to elect José María Balcázar to serve as caretaker interim president until the newly elected government would take office later in 2026.
The political impact of Jerí’s removal was profound. He became one of several presidents in Peru’s contemporary history to be ousted prematurely by legislative action – a staggering statistic reflecting the endemic instability in Peruvian governance. In less than a decade, multiple heads of state had fallen amid crises, and Jerí’s downfall reinforced concerns about the durability of democratic institutions.
Post‑Presidency and Continuing Investigations
Following his removal from office, José Jerí faced continued legal and judicial scrutiny. In February 2026, the Peruvian Fiscalía (Prosecutor’s Office) conducted multiple diligence operations, entering the Palacio de Gobierno in Lima to gather evidence and documents related to ongoing investigations into Jerí’s conduct while in office. These investigations centered on allegations of influence trafficking and illegal patronage, especially concerning the unusual hiring of individuals linked to meetings with him.
Rather than retreating from public view, Jerí announced his intention to return to Congress to complete his elected term. In a farewell video posted on TikTok immediately after his removal, he declared that he left office “with a full heart and at peace,” asserting that his administration had worked with earnest conviction to safeguard transparent elections and national security. However, skepticism remained widespread, with many viewing his departure as emblematic of deeper issues afflicting Peru’s political class.
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