Pedro Castillo

Pedro Castillo
Born	José Pedro Castillo Terrones 19 10, 1969
Birthplace	Puña, Cajamarca, Peru
Nationality	Peruvian
Occupation	Politician, teacher, union leader
Known for	63rd President of Peru (2021–2022)
Education	César Vallejo University (BA, MA)
Children	2

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the 63rd President of Peru from 28 July 2021 until his removal from office on 7 December 2022. Born into a peasant family in the rural hamlet of Puña in the Cajamarca Region, Castillo rose from modest origins, working in Peru's informal economy as a teenager before returning to his hometown to become a primary school teacher. He gained national prominence as a leading figure in a nationwide school teachers' strike in 2017 and parlayed that visibility into a presidential candidacy under the socialist Free Peru party in the 2021 presidential election. With strong support from voters in rural and outlying provinces, Castillo placed first in the initial round of voting and defeated Keiko Fujimori in the runoff, with his victory confirmed on 19 July 2021. His presidency was marked by persistent instability, including record cabinet turnover and three impeachment proceedings initiated by an opposition-controlled Congress. On 7 December 2022, hours before a scheduled third impeachment vote, Castillo attempted a self-coup, announcing the dissolution of Congress and the imposition of a national curfew. Congress impeached him the same day, and he was detained on charges of sedition and conspiracy to commit rebellion. In November 2025, Peru's Supreme Court sentenced Castillo to 11 years, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for conspiracy to commit rebellion.

Early Life

Pedro Castillo was born on 19 October 1969 in Puña, a small rural community in the Cajamarca Region of northern Peru. He was born into a peasant family, and his upbringing reflected the socioeconomic conditions common to Peru's rural highlands, where access to education, healthcare, and basic infrastructure remained limited. As a teenager, Castillo began working in Peru's informal economy to earn funds for his studies, an experience that shaped his later political identification with the country's working class and rural poor.

Castillo's early life in Cajamarca placed him in one of Peru's historically underserved regions. The department of Cajamarca, despite its mineral wealth, has long ranked among the country's poorest areas. The contrast between the extraction of natural resources and the persistent poverty of local communities became a recurring theme in Castillo's later political rhetoric.

After completing his secondary education, Castillo pursued a career in teaching and returned to his hometown to become a primary school teacher. He spent years working as an educator in rural Peru, where he witnessed firsthand the lack of resources and institutional neglect that affected students and communities in the country's interior. Castillo later stated that observing the hardships his students faced due to insufficient resources in rural areas was a motivating factor in his eventual decision to enter politics.

Education

Castillo pursued higher education at César Vallejo University, where he earned a bachelor's degree and later a master's degree. His academic training was in education, consistent with his career as a primary school teacher. César Vallejo University, a private institution with campuses across Peru, has been the alma mater of several Peruvian political figures. Castillo's educational background distinguished him from many of Peru's previous presidents, who had typically attended elite universities in Lima or studied abroad.

Career

Teaching and Union Leadership

Castillo worked for years as a primary school teacher in the rural highlands of Cajamarca. His experience in the classroom and in Peru's underfunded rural education system led him to become involved in union activism. He emerged as a leading figure within the teachers' union movement and gained national attention during a major school teachers' strike in 2017. The strike, which affected schools across multiple regions, was driven by demands for higher wages and improved working conditions for teachers. According to Peru's Ministry of Education, the strike had its greatest impact in five regions of the country.

Castillo's role as a strike leader placed him at the center of a contentious national debate about education policy and labor rights. His prominence during the 2017 strike established him as a recognizable figure among teachers and other workers in Peru's provinces, building a base of support that would later prove instrumental in his political career. During this period, Castillo was also asked about the presence of individuals linked to MOVADEF (a political front associated with the Shining Path) among Peru's teachers. Castillo attributed responsibility for this to the Ministry of Education rather than to the teachers themselves.

2021 Presidential Campaign

Castillo entered the 2021 presidential race as the candidate of Free Peru (Perú Libre), a socialist party led by Vladimir Cerrón. His candidacy was initially considered unlikely to advance, as he lacked the name recognition and financial resources of Peru's established political figures. Castillo announced his presidential bid after witnessing the hardships his students and rural communities endured from the lack of resources, with the election occurring during the country's COVID-19 pandemic and a period of democratic deterioration.

The first round of voting took place on 11 April 2021. Castillo's strong performance shocked political observers; he placed first among a crowded field of candidates, earning enough votes to advance to the runoff election. His first-round success was described as a major surprise and an upset in Peruvian politics. International media characterized the result as a significant shift, with one Swiss outlet describing the advance of the "ultra-left" to the second round as a defining event of the election cycle in Latin America.

In the runoff election, Castillo faced Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori and leader of the right-wing Popular Force party. The contest was widely described as one of the most polarized in Peruvian history, pitting a rural left-wing candidate against a representative of Peru's conservative establishment. During the campaign, Castillo advocated for a new constitution, nationalization of key industries, and increased state investment in education and healthcare. He also expressed opposition to same-sex marriage, gender studies in schools, and legalization of abortion, reflecting socially conservative positions.

Castillo's candidacy drew particular support from voters in rural and outlying provinces, who felt marginalized by Lima-centric political and economic structures. His background as a rural teacher and his participation in the 2017 teachers' strike lent credibility to his appeals to working-class and rural voters. Financial markets reacted negatively to the prospect of a Castillo presidency, with investors expressing concern over his proposals regarding nationalization and the renegotiation of mining contracts. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales praised Castillo's victory as a triumph for the Latin American left.

Castillo's victory in the presidential race was confirmed on 19 July 2021 after weeks of legal challenges and allegations of fraud raised by the Fujimori camp. He was inaugurated as president on 28 July 2021.

Presidency (2021–2022)

Castillo's presidency was characterized by political instability, frequent cabinet changes, and escalating conflicts with the Peruvian Congress. After taking office, he named far-left and left-wing cabinets, influenced by Free Peru leader Vladimir Cerrón and other left-leaning politicians. His first prime minister was Guido Bellido, who was succeeded in turn by Mirtha Vásquez, Héctor Valer, Aníbal Torres, and Betssy Chávez.

Castillo was noted for appointing four different governments in six months, a record in Peruvian political history. The rapid turnover of ministers reflected both internal tensions within his coalition and external pressure from Congress and other political actors. A social conservative, Castillo aligned his policies with Congress and Evangelical groups on social issues, including opposition to same-sex marriage, gender studies, and sex education. He also expressed his view that the government of Venezuela was democratic, a position that drew criticism from some quarters.

In June 2022, Castillo left the Free Peru party, choosing to govern as an independent. In attempts to appease the right-wing Congress, he later appointed members of center and center-right political parties as ministers of state.

Castillo's presidency operated with a minority in Congress, which led to persistent opposition and legislative gridlock. Congress initiated three impeachment proceedings against him. The first two attempts failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office. Following the second failed impeachment vote in March 2022, protests erupted across the country against high fuel and fertilizer prices, which had been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions against Russia. Mining protests also intensified as the country's economy declined.

During his time in office, Castillo also stated that he would pardon Antauro Humala, a former military officer imprisoned for leading an armed uprising, if elected—a promise he had made during the campaign.

On 1 December 2022, Peru's Congress approved a motion initiated by opposition lawmakers to start a third formal attempt to impeach Castillo.

Self-Coup Attempt and Removal from Office

On 7 December 2022, hours before Congress was scheduled to vote on the third impeachment motion, Castillo addressed the nation in a televised broadcast. He announced the dissolution of Congress, the imposition of a national curfew, and called for the formation of an emergency assembly to draft a new constitution. The action was widely characterized as an attempted self-coup (autogolpe).

The attempt failed almost immediately. Key members of Castillo's own cabinet, including several ministers, publicly rejected his actions and resigned. The Peruvian military and police did not support the move. Congress proceeded to vote on the impeachment motion and approved Castillo's removal from office with a vote that exceeded the required two-thirds majority. He was impeached within the same day.

Following the vote, Castillo attempted to seek asylum at the Mexican Embassy in Lima but was intercepted and detained by security forces. He was arrested on charges of sedition and conspiracy to commit rebellion. First Vice President Dina Boluarte was sworn in as his successor, becoming Peru's first female president.

After Castillo's removal, protests erupted in several regions of Peru, particularly in the rural south. Supporters of Castillo demanded his reinstatement and the closure of Congress. The protests, which continued into early 2023, resulted in numerous deaths and widespread civil unrest, drawing international concern about the use of force by security services under the Boluarte government.

Criminal Conviction

Castillo remained in detention following his removal from office. On 27 November 2025, Peru's Supreme Court sentenced him to 11 years, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for conspiracy to commit rebellion in connection with his attempted self-coup on 7 December 2022. The sentence was delivered in a two-to-one vote by the judicial panel.

In February 2026, Castillo reportedly sought presidential clemency, including a pardon. Peru's transitional government publicly stated that it had no plans "pending or scheduled" to grant presidential clemency, effectively ruling out any pardon.

The Peruvian Prosecutor's Office also continued separate investigations against Castillo, reportedly including the former prime minister and justice minister in ongoing probes related to his administration.

Personal Life

Castillo is the father of two children. Throughout his political career, he presented himself as a man of rural origins and modest means, often appearing in public wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a pencil-shaped pin, symbols associated with Peruvian rural culture and the teaching profession, respectively. His social conservatism, including his stated opposition to same-sex marriage and gender studies in education, reflected views common among Evangelical and rural communities in Peru.

After his detention in December 2022, Castillo remained imprisoned in Peru. His family and supporters maintained that his removal from office was unjust, while his critics pointed to the self-coup attempt as an unconstitutional act that warranted prosecution.

Legacy

Pedro Castillo's rise and fall illuminated deep fractures in Peruvian society. His election as a rural schoolteacher with no prior political experience at the national level underscored the disillusionment of many Peruvians — particularly those in the country's interior — with Lima's political establishment. His first-round victory was described as a major upset, reflecting a broad desire for change among voters who felt excluded from the benefits of economic growth concentrated in the capital and coastal cities.

At the same time, Castillo's presidency exposed the difficulties of governing in Peru's fragmented political system. His minority position in Congress, combined with the rapid turnover of ministers and persistent allegations of corruption, prevented the implementation of many of his campaign promises. His attempted dissolution of Congress on 7 December 2022 — and its immediate failure — marked a critical moment in Peruvian democratic history, drawing comparisons to Alberto Fujimori's successful self-coup in 1992.

The protests that followed Castillo's removal, particularly in Peru's southern highlands, resulted in significant casualties and further polarized the nation. His supporters viewed him as a victim of an entrenched political elite, while his opponents characterized his actions as an authoritarian attempt to subvert democratic institutions.

Castillo's conviction in November 2025, with a sentence of over 11 years in prison for conspiracy to commit rebellion, represented one of the most significant judicial outcomes involving a former Peruvian head of state in recent decades. Peru's refusal to consider clemency for Castillo in February 2026 indicated that the political and judicial establishment remained opposed to any rehabilitation of his legacy in the near term.