Andean Group - May 2026

At a moment of high political tension as the vote count crawled on following the 12 April first round of Peru’s general election, the country teetered on the edge of another bout of instability as opposition lawmakers called for President José María Balcázar’s impeachment over a messy deal to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the US.

The impeachment threat faced by President Balcázar, which may still bring him down, could scarcely have come at a more delicate moment. The election’s first round was marred by delays in distributing voting materials which forced the extension of voting in some districts, mostly in Lima, sparking allegations of foul play from Rafael López Aliaga, of the far-right Renovación Popular (RP). With 96.36% of votes counted as of 28 April, López Aliaga was set to narrowly miss out on the 7 June second round, on 11.89% against 12.04% for Roberto Sánchez, of the left-wing Juntos por el Perú (JPP). The right-wing Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular, FP), was comfortably in front with 17.08%.

Balcázar, who took over as interim president in February following the impeachment of José Jerí (2025-2026), has called for calm and has largely avoided commenting on the election to avoid adding to the tensions. He has said that his overriding goal is to hand over power to the election’s victor on 28 July and help deliver much-needed political stability. However, Balcázar’s own grip on power was called into question on 22 April when the defence minister, Carlos Díaz, and the foreign minister, Hugo de Zela, resigned with stinging criticisms of Balcázar’s handling of a deal to purchase fighter jets from US company Lockheed Martin.

The US$3.2bn deal, which was negotiated under Jerí’s predecessor Dina Boluarte (2023-2025), would see Peru purchase 12 F-16s and other military equipment, with the purchase of a further 12 fighter jets planned. However, Balcázar was reluctant to sign off on the purchase, arguing that due to the high price tag, the final decision should be made by the election’s winner. Balcázar’s efforts to delay the deal were slammed by Washington’s ambassador in Peru, Bernie Navarro, who cautioned on 17 April that “if you deal with the US in bad faith and undermine US interests, rest assured, I, on behalf of [President Donald] Trump and his administration, will use every available tool to protect and promote the prosperity and security of our country and our region”.

A chaotic few hours on 22 April saw the defence minister, Díaz, resign with a warning that Balcázar’s handling of the deal “could compromise the country’s interests”. He was followed by the foreign minister, De Zela, who expressed his “complete disagreement” with Balcázar’s actions, which he said “could gravely affect the national interest”. Balcázar caved to the pressure, with Prime Minister Luis Arroyo announcing later that day that the first phase of the purchase had gone ahead.

Balcázar has been weakened by the fiasco and the right-wing opposition has smelled blood in the water. The president of congress, Fernando Rospigliosi (FP), said on 22 April that he would admit any impeachment proceedings filed against Balcázar, after the third vice president of congress, Ilich López, of the centrist Acción Popular (AP), said he would push for impeachment because “national security is not up for negotiation”. Balcázar may have been thrown a life vest by Fujimori, whose FP is the largest party in congress and who warned that toppling yet another president would cause further turmoil ahead of the election’s second round.

China criticises US pressure on Peru

The dispute over the fighter jet purchase prompted a back-and-forth on social media between the US ambassador in Peru, Bernie Navarro, and China’s ambassador in Colombia, Zhu Jingyang. Zhu accused Navarro of “direct, pure, and raw coercion” in relation to his threat to use “every available tool” to get Peru to sign the deal. Navarro responded by accusing China of using its diplomacy to “eat” other countries, comparing it to the wolf in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Zhu hit back, saying: “You shout ‘free choice’ but brandish the cudgel of sanctions, you play the ‘mature country’ but use cheap taunts… With this you make it very clear who the real wolf is”. Navarro replied: “Shouldn’t we wonder why the Chinese ambassador in Colombia keeps provoking and stirring things up around here? It’s not the first time.”