The president is the chief of state and head of government. Presidents are directly elected to a five-year term and may serve nonconsecutive terms. Before 2021, the last president to be seated through a national election was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2016.

Pedro Castillo of the leftist Peru Libre party narrowly beat conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori in a two-round election held in April and June 2021. The election, which saw a voter turnout of over 70 percent, was deemed free and fair by both local and international election monitors. Fujimori unsuccessfully challenged the results, with the National Board of Elections (JNE) declaring Castillo the winner that July.

Opposition members of Congress unsuccessfully attempted to impeach Castillo in 2021 and 2022. In late 2022, hours before Congress planned to hold a vote to impeach him on charges of “moral incapacity,” Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress and seize power in a so-called autogolpe (self-coup). Members of his government and the military immediately denounced Castillo’s actions, and he was removed from office after Congress voted to impeach him. Police arrested Castillo hours later on charges of sedition. Castillo remained in prison at the end of 2024.

Congress appointed vice-president Dina Boluarte to the presidency. Boluarte took office within hours of Castillo’s removal, becoming the country’s sixth president in less than five years. In 2023, shortly after assuming office, Boluarte proposed an early election, but reneged shortly thereafter. That June, President Boluarte said she would serve the remainder of her term, which legally ends in 2026.

Members of the 130-member unicameral Congress are elected for five-year terms; reelection is not permitted. Congressional balloting employs an open-list, region-based system of proportional representation. There is a 5 percent vote threshold for a party to enter the legislature, which increases by 1 percent for each additional party in an electoral coalition.

Ten parties entered Congress following the 2021 general elections, which international observers deemed competitive and peaceful. Peru Libre won 37 seats, becoming the largest party represented in Congress, followed by Keiko Fujimori’s previously dominant right-wing Popular Force (FP), which took 24. No party won a majority of seats.

International observers praised the conduct of the JNE and the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) during the 2021 elections, reporting that both bodies had operated efficiently and transparently. In October 2024, the Constitutional Committee of Congress approved a reform that would shorten the tenure of the president of the JNE from four to two years. The reform also proposed that the president of the JNE be elected by the members of the JNE rather than the Supreme Court.

Peruvian parties, while competitive, are highly fragmented and personalized. Though there are limits on individual donations, political party spending is not constrained, offering an outsized advantage to parties able to secure abundant funds.

In 2024, a proposed amendment to the constitution suggested eliminating “regional movements,” which had won over half of elected offices in the 2022 regional elections, and allowing only national parties to run in regional and local elections. While the reform was rejected in November 2024, there have been other attempts to reduce the independence and competitiveness of political parties.

Opposition political parties have a realistic chance of winning power through elections, and the national and regional outcomes are subject to effective competition. Fragmentation is the single biggest obstacle faced by political actors attempting to gain and exercise power. It remains to be seen whether proposed constitutional reforms and attempts to undermine electoral institutions will affect the competitiveness of the 2026 national, regional, and local elections.

While voters and candidates can generally exercise their political choices without undue influence, businesses regularly seek to bribe or influence political candidates’ positions. The increase in organized crime has raised concerns about the influence it could have in the 2026 elections.

The concerns of members of ethnic and cultural minority groups remain inadequately addressed in politics.

In 2020, Congress passed a law requiring moves toward full gender parity on party lists. Following the 2021 elections, women hold roughly 38 percent of Congress’s seats, the highest percentage in the country’s history. When she was inaugurated in 2022 Dina Boluarte became Peru’s first woman president. Peru’s first openly LGBT+ congressperson, Susel Paredes, was elected in 2021. However, in May 2024, Congress approved reforms that eliminated parity requirements in regional, municipal, and presidential elections.

Elected leaders and representatives are the key agents in creating and implementing policy. However, businesses and special interest groups influence officials through bribes and other illicit payments. In 2024, there were some signs of the influence of illegal groups on legislation, including the partial repeal of a law aiming to formalize illegal miners in March.

Clashes between the executive and legislative branches have been common. Boluarte has cooperated with a right-wing coalition in the legislature to govern after being appointed. However, there has been tension between the two, and multiple impeachment petitions have been presented in Congress.

Despite some efforts by law enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute corruption allegations, government corruption remains a critical problem in Peru. Recent years have seen scandals involving allegations of illicit deals between the Brazilian firm Odebrecht and some of the country’s most senior political figures. Former president Castillo was the subject of several corruption allegations while in office. While authorities and institutions in charge of investigating and sanctioning corruption have faced several attacks under the Boluarte administration, groups in the Public Ministry and the General Prosecution Office continued to pursue investigations.

In May 2024, The JNJ dismissed Patricia Benavides from the position of attorney general and chief prosecutor for interfering in an investigation of her sister, dismissing the former prosecutor Bersabeth Revilla in an irregular manner, and appointing Miguel Vegas Vaccaro as provisional deputy chief prosecutor despite his dubious background. Benavides filed several appeals, including with the Constitutional Court.

In January 2024, the prosecutor sought 34 years in prison for Pedro Castillo for the attempted coup of 2022. In June, a constitutional complaint was also filed against Castillo for the irregular appointment of Daniel Salaverry as president of Perupetro.

In June 2024, Pedro Cobeñas, a former Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) official, was convicted alongside lawyers Samuel Campusano and Gustavo Montecinos in connection with illicit payments for a road project in Cusco. In October 2024, Former President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to over 20 years in prison for soliciting $35 million in bribes for the tenders of the Interoceánica Highway and laundering $27 million.

President Boluarte was also involved in several scandals during the year. In March 2024, independent journalists uncovered a case of alleged illegal enrichment that was dubbed “Rolexgate.” An investigation into this case included a raid of Boluarte’s residence and office, and led to the dismissal of the officer in charge of the operation. In September 2024, an investigation was started into the “Caso Cofre” incident, in which the presidential vehicle was allegedly used to transport a fugitive, Vladimir Cerrón. Boluarte has also been accused of abandonment of duty for leaving office to have a cosmetic procedure. Investigations into all of these incidents were still in progress at the end of the year.

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because the JNJ dismissed Patricia Benavides from the position of attorney general and the position is now occupied by an independent official.

Some government agencies have made progress on transparency. In May 2024, new Regulations of the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information were published. Still, observers noted an overall decline in transparency during the Castillo administration, which continued under Boluarte. President Boluarte has gone long periods without speaking to the press or answering their questions.

Peru’s press is mostly privately owned, and ownership is highly concentrated. Defamation is criminalized, and journalists are regularly convicted under such charges, though their sentences are usually suspended.

De facto restrictions on press freedom and threats and violence against journalists have increased. The National Journalist Association of Peru (ANP) reported 392 attacks against the freedom of the press in 2024. Threats and harassment were the most common attacks, some of which came from the president. Journalists also face harassment by groups like La Resistencia, which have targeted them both on social media and at their private homes. Journalists Gustavo Gorriti, José Miguel Hidalgo, and Paola Ugaz have all faced harassment by either authorities or private citizens.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and belief, which is generally respected.

Academic freedom is generally unrestricted. However, in 2022, Congress passed legislation giving publicly registered parental organizations “supervisory and veto powers” over preschool and secondary school educational materials. Human rights organizations expressed concern that the law may be used to restrict information along politicized lines.

In 2024, an internal document from the Ministry of Education revealed an attempt to censor school texts that contained words like “armed conflict,” “gender ideology,” “abortion,” and “dictatorship,” among others. The minister of education later dismissed this attempt.

People are generally free to engage in private discussions without fear of retribution or surveillance.

Authorities have historically recognized the right to assemble, though local disputes and protests sometimes resulted in excessive use of force on the part of the authorities. In 2022, tens of thousands of protesters held nationwide pro-Castillo demonstrations after his ouster, many of which turned violent. The Boluarte administration deployed the military and implemented a state of emergency in response, limiting assembly rights and granting “special powers” to security forces. Violent tactics were deployed both by protesters, who burned buildings and blockaded transportation links, and by security forces, who used excessive force and arbitrarily detained protesters. Violence related to the change in administration continued in 2023, further eroding assembly rights in practice. Fifty people were killed in the crackdown on protests between December 2022 and March 2023, with Amnesty International concluding that at least 20 were extrajudicially executed.

Investigations into the deaths that occurred during the wave of protests between December 2022 and January 2023 have continued, and a case was presented to the International Criminal Court in 2024. There has not been another case of violent state repression such as that seen during the protests of December 2022 and January 2023, even though protests against the government have continued.

The government can declare a state of emergency at its discretion, which can affect individual freedoms. In September 2024, the government declared a 60-day state of emergency in 14 districts of Lima in response to a strike by public transit workers facing increasing attacks by criminal gangs.

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because deadly violence against protesters that took place in past years’ demonstrations was not repeated.

While the freedom of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is formally recognized and protected, harassment and intimidation against these organizations increased in 2024. Conservative groups, such as “La Resistencia,” and some newspapers, including as Diario Expreso, have issued defamatory attacks against the National Coordinator of Human Rights (CNDDHH).

Additionally, a proposal that would modify the Law on the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (ACPI) to increase the oversight of NGOs could also affect the freedom and operations of these organizations. The proposed amendments would create a registry of all organizations that engage in “political activism” and prohibit organizations from engaging in activities that could affect order, property, security or defense.

Peruvian law recognizes the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Strikes are legal with advance notification to the Ministry of Labor, but few strikers abide by this regulation. The lengthy processes involved in registering a new union create a window in which labor leaders and activists can be easily dismissed from their jobs. Short-term contracts in many industries make unionization difficult. Less than 10 percent of the formal workforce is unionized.

The judiciary has been perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country. In 2018, Congress approved a reform that led to the creation of the JNJ, which is responsible for selecting, evaluating, and disciplining judges. The establishment of the JNJ was widely praised by civil society organizations and academia. However, there have been several attempts to remove and replace members of the JNJ.

In March 2024, Congress prohibited two of the JNJ’s seven members, Inés Tello and Aldo Vásquez, from holding public office for 10 years. Both magistrates were accused of violating the constitution because Inés Tello continued to serve in her role after turning 75, which is the maximum age to become a member, and which Congress interpreted as also being as the maximum age to serve as a member. Both magistrates were reinstated shortly thereafter.

Between July and October 2024, there was an open selection process for the new members of the JNJ. The process faced criticism, with the International Observation Mission for the JNJ (MIO Peru) highlighting the lack of transparency, the risk of political intervention, and concerns about the capabilities and independence of the candidates.

Constitutional guarantees of due process are unevenly upheld. Impunity for state violence remains a problem. In July 2024, Congress approved a law establishing a statute of limitations for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed before 2002, the year in which the Rome Statute and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity entered into force. This law effectively grants immunity to those who committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during the internal conflict of the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2023, the Constitutional Court—defying a ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—reinstated a presidential pardon, releasing former president Alberto Fujimori from prison. Fujimori had only partially completed a 25-year sentence for authorizing extrajudicial killings. In September 2024, Alberto Fujimori passed away outside of prison.

Lengthy pretrial detention is common. President Castillo has been in pretrial detention since the attempted coup and his subsequent detention. His pretrial detention was extended for another 18 months in July 2024. At the end of 2024 there were attempts to curtail pretrial detention. A law eliminating pretrial detention for some cases passed in December, but the measure was undone several days later by a further modification to the law The new law did, however, establish that policemen cannot be subject to pretrial detention for using their weapons in a way that complies with regulations.

While Peru’s murder rate is lower than many of its regional peers, violent criminal organizations operate in the narcotics and illegal mining industries, and street crime is rampant. There has been an increase in contract killings, extortion, and related crimes, which some have attributed to the modification of the Law Against Organized Crime. There were also 34 percent more homicides in 2024 than in 2023.

Discrimination against Indigenous populations and Afro-Peruvians is pervasive. LGBT+ people face discrimination, hostility, and violence. Government officials are known to espouse anti-LGBT+ rhetoric. In May 2024, a government decree referred to transgender people as mentally ill. The decree was rescinded in June.

Peru has received many migrants from Venezuela in recent years, and as of June 2024 there were 1.54 million Venezuelans residing in Peru. In a 2022 survey of the Venezuelan population residing in Peru, the National Institution of Statistics and Information (INEI) found that 29.6 percent reported experiencing discrimination, mainly due to their nationality.

In March 2024, a congressional commission approved the proposed the Law for the Promotion of Cultural Diversity and the Elimination of Ethnic-Racial Discrimination, but the bill had not yet been debated by the rest of Congress at the end of the year.

Peruvian authorities do not place formal restrictions on movement. However, there have been ongoing issues with passport access due to the lack of available appointments to update or issue passports. The rise in violent crime has also decreased freedom of movement in practice. Additionally, a state of emergency was declared in several districts due to this increase in crime, further restricting freedom of movement.

The rights to own property and establish business are mostly respected, though tensions persist between extractive industries and Indigenous communities who demand inclusion in land use policy decisions. In the past year, there has also been a rise in crimes of extortion and illegal fee collection, including incidents where bus drivers who refused to pay fees to criminal gangs were murdered. Similarly, in 2024 roughly 3,000 convenience stores in Lima reportedly closed because their owners were subject to extortion and illegal fees. Compared to 2023, there was a 14 percent increase in reports of extortion, and the Police Investigation Directorate reported over 16,000 cases of extortion between the beginning of the year and November 2024. While most of the reports were in Lima, there has been a rise in this crime in other regions as well.

Score Change: The score declined from 3 to 2 due to increasing extortion by criminal organizations that led to the closure of many small businesses.

Gender-based violence is widespread in Peru. The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations reported 141 cases of femicide and 212 attempted femicides between January and November 2024.

There are also many incidents of sexual violence against minors. More than 46,000 reports of violence against minors were made between January and September 2024, over 16,000 of which were reports of sexual violence. In June 2024, Rosemary Pioc, president of the Awajún and Wampis Women’s Council, presented a complaint against 524 teachers for committing acts of sexual violence against girls in the province of Condorcanqui since 2010.

Abortion is permitted only in instances where a woman’s health is in danger. In March of 2024, a new law was approved (Law N 1520) that offered legal protections to the “child to be born.” Some organizations expressed concerns that this could affect access to therapeutic abortion.

Proposals to recognize civil unions for same-sex partners have been repeatedly introduced and rejected in Congress.

The large share of Peruvians working in the informal sector leads to widespread economic precarity. Peruvian women and girls, especially from Indigenous communities, are vulnerable to sex trafficking. An average of 15 reports of human trafficking are filed each day in Peru, the vast majority of which are about women, and a large percentage of which are about minors. Instances of forced labor in illegal mining and illegal logging have increased.