José Pedro Castillo Terrones

• José Pedro Castillo Terrones was born on October 19, 1969 in Cajamarca, Peru.
• Castillo began working in Peru's informal economy as a teenager to support his education.
• He attained political prominence as a leading figure in a teachers' strike in 2017.
• Castillo ran in the 2021 Peruvian general election as the candidate of the Marxist Free Peru party.
• Castillo placed first in the initial round of the presidential vote and advanced to the second round.
• He won against his opponent Keiko Fujimori.
• Castillo was inaugurated on July 28, 2021.
• Since taking office, Castillo has played in between naming far-left and moderate left-wing cabinets, allegedly under the strong influence of the leader of his party, Vladimir Cerrón.
• Castillo as also appointed members of center and center-right political parties as ministers of state.
• Castillo faced two impeachment proceedings in the Peruvian Congress, but both failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office.
• Following the second failed impeachment vote, a series of protests across the country took place.
• Castillo's administration has not been able to find a solution to the political crisis, as it escalates in addition to mining protests as the country's economy plummets.
• Castillo ultimately left the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent.
• In July 2022, a fifth inquest was launched into Castillo's alleged corruption involvements.

José Pedro Castillo Terrones is a Peruvian elementary school teacher, union leader, and politician. He was born on October 19, 1969 in Cajamarca, Peru. He began working in Peru's informal economy as a teenager to support his education. He attained political prominence as a leading figure in a teachers' strike in 2017. He ran in the 2021 Peruvian general election as the candidate of the Marxist Free Peru party. He placed first in the initial round of the presidential vote and advanced to the second round. He won against his opponent Keiko Fujimori. Castillo was inaugurated on July 28, 2021. Since taking office, Castillo has played in between naming far-left and moderate left-wing cabinets, allegedly under the strong influence of the leader of his party, Vladimir Cerrón. Castillo as also appointed members of center and center-right political parties as ministers of state. Castillo faced two impeachment proceedings in the Peruvian Congress, but both failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office. Following the second failed impeachment vote, a series of protests across the country took place. Castillo's administration has not been able to find a solution to the political crisis, as it escalates in addition to mining protests as the country's economy plummets. Castillo ultimately left the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent. In July 2022,

• In 2002, Castillo unsuccessfully ran for the mayorship of Anguía as the representative of Alejandro Toledo's centre-left party Possible Peru.

• In 2005, Castillo became a leading member of the party in Cajamarca.

• The party's dissolution in 2017 following its poor results in the 2016 Peruvian general election led to Castillo's entry into politics.

• Castillo became a teachers' union leader during the 2017 Peru teachers' strike.

• The strikes spread through southern Peru; due to their longevity, Minister of Education Marilú Martens, Prime Minister Fernando Zavala, and other government officials jointly announced a package of salary increases and debt relief, though the teachers remained on strike.

• President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski offered to mediate, inviting the teachers' delegates to meet at the Government Palace to reach a solution; only the leaders of the union's executive committee and its Cuzco leaders were received while representatives of the regions led by Castillo were excluded.

• The strike consequently worsened as teachers from across Peru travelled to Lima to hold marches and rallies in the capital.

• Keiko Fujimori and her Fujimorist supporters, who were opponents of the Kuczynski administration, assisted Castillo with the strike in an effort to destabilize the president's government.

• On 24 August 2017, the government issued a supreme decree making official the benefits agreed in negotiations, issuing a warning that if teachers did not return to their classrooms by 28 August, they would be fired and replaced.

• On 2 September 2017, Castillo announced a suspension of the strike; he said it was only a temporary suspension.

• Castillo unsuccessfully ran for the mayorship of Anguía again in 2002 as the representative of Possible Peru. In 2017, he unsuccessfully ran for the mayorship of Cajamarca as the representative of Possible Peru.

• Vladimir Castillo, a former governor of Junín, announced his candidacy for the 2021 Peruvian presidential election, running as the candidate of Free Peru.

• He faced the second-placed candidate, Keiko Fujimori, who had also finished second place in the 2011 and 2016 general elections.

• In the first round, Castillo secured 18% of the vote, putting him in first place among eighteen candidates.

• He faced the second-placed candidate, Keiko Fujimori, in the second round of voting.

• After his victory in the first round, Castillo called for Peru

• To reduce the pay of congress and ministers by half.

• Election day was on May 20, 2021.

• Ollanta Humala declined to make a roadmap similar that of Ollanta Humala during the 2016 general election.

• He established a political alliance with the left-wing former presidential candidate Verónika Mendoza in May 2021, earning her support for his campaign.

• Castillo was criticized for his debate performance with critics raising questions on whether he understood governmental functions.

• He ultimately won the election, handing Fujimori her third consecutive defeat in a presidential election.

• Reactions to Castillo's victory were mixed. Some observers described the second round of the presidential election as being a choice between the lesser of two evils.

• The transfer of the presidency to Castillo was described by the Institute of Peruvian Studies as "strengthening the current Peruvian democratic regime", as the process was peaceful and contributed to a "more prolonged democratic stability" in Peru in the early 21st century.

• Castillo's victory was seen as a repudiation of the country's establishment, with capital flight being a major concern.

• Many observers felt that Castillo would moderate his views, citing former president Ollanta Humala as an example.