Peruvian Interim President José Jerí was ousted by the Congress on Feb. 17, and a new interim President, José María Balcázar, was sworn in the next day. Jerí was drummed out of office by a media-run scandal that he had held “secret” meetings with Chinese businessmen in Lima’s chifas (Chinese restaurants). He had been sworn into office as interim President only last November, after his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, had also been run out of office on hoked-up corruption charges.
Both Jerí and Boluarte had championed Peru’s active participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, eager to take advantage of the possibilities opened up for the industrialization of their country by the super-modern Chancay Port, which China built on Peru’s Pacific coast. China is Peru’s largest trading partner (accounting for 34% of exports in 2024) and a leading foreign investor in mining and infrastructure. In addition to having built Chancay Port in under four years, China has already carried out extensive preparatory work on the transcontinental railroad envisioned to connect the Chancay port to Brazilian ports on the Atlantic.
U.S. Ambassador to Peru Bernie Navarro had summoned Jerí on Feb. 9 for lunch, suggesting he should learn to enjoy hamburgers, not Chinese food. The day before Jeri’s ouster, Ambassador Navarro told Peru’s Gestión daily that he was going to strengthen U.S. ties with Peru’s ports. Navarro wrote in promoting the interview on his X account, that while the U.S. itself trades with China, “we would never give the management of our critical assets away. Not our power grids, ports, or railways.”
