International
The Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden
The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office gave 24 hours to President Dina Boluarte, or her legal defense, to deliver the documents that motivated a surgery in 2023 that it kept hidden, as well as the rules she signed during that period, as part of the investigation into a possible abandonment of office.
Through the Area of Illicit Enrichment and Constitutional Complaints, the Prosecutor’s Office required the president “to comply with sending – within 24 hours the 91 rules in original that she assures she signed between June 28 and July 9, 2023, and the documents on her state of health that motivated the surgical intervention.”
On the social network X, the Public Ministry specified that it makes this request after the statement that the president provided on January 13, as part of the investigation opened for the alleged commission “of the crime of omission of functions and, alternatively, for the crime of abandonment of office, to the detriment of the State.”
Boluarte went this Monday to the office of the attorney general, Delia Espinoza, to testify about the nose operation that kept Congress hidden for more than a year and that has motivated the investigation of the Public Ministry.
His lawyer, Juan Carlos Portugal, said after the diligence that “there is no omission of the charge” because Boluarte “was always aware of the country.”
He explained that the surgery lasted between 40 and 50 minutes, during which “the president was never unconscious,” because it was an “almely simple” intervention.
“At all times she was lucid” and the subsequent treatment was outpatient, despite the fact that that night (June 29, 2023) she spent the night in the clinic, Portugal said.
For that reason, the lawyer maintained that “there is no omission (of functions) because the obligation to communicate (to Congress) is not covered by a rule.”
Boluarte admitted on December 12 that she underwent “a surgical intervention, it was not aesthetic”, that “it was necessary, essential”, for her health, and that it did not generate “any kind of disability, or impediment to exercise” her functions.
“When the Public Ministry deigns to summon me, I will voluntarily renounce my right to medical confidentiality and deliver my medical record,” he said.
After the opening of the investigation, Espinoza said in an interview that the president is not being investigated because she has undergone surgery, but because, allegedly, “she would have left office for hours or days without justification, without having communicated to Congress as appropriate.”
In this sense, he reiterated that the investigation is “about the hours that the Presidency would have stopped exercising because, perhaps, having been incapacitated or unconscious” in the period from June 29 to July 9, 2023.
International
Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident
Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.
Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.
Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.
The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.
“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.
According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.
The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.
International
Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador
A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.
Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.
The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.
As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.
“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”
Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.
Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.
International
Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge
Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.
Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.
Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.
To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.
Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.
“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.
“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.
During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.
The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.
Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.
“I am an artist who has taken a step into politics to bring peace to my country,” Álvarez told reporters while surrounded by supporters.
Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident
Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador
Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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