Dina Boluarte's biography: the former president of Peru

Dina Boluarte was the first woman to hold the Presidency of the Republic of Peru, taking office on December 7, 2022 after the removal of Pedro Castillo. Her term, however, was permanently marked by controversy, judicial scandals, social protests and a climate of permanent political instability, which finally led to her removal from office in October 2025. Her name is still one of the most searched on Google Peru in 2026, now as a former president and with the courts and Congress still watching her fate.

In this biography we go over her origins in Apurímac, her training as a lawyer, her years in public administration, her arrival at the presidency, the scandals that marked her government, her removal in 2025 and her situation in 2026.

Dina Boluarte's Personal Details

Childhood and early years: the girl from Chalhuanca

Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra was born on May 31, 1962 in Chalhuanca, the capital of the province of Aymaraes, in the region of Apurímac, into a large peasant family: she was the last of fourteen siblings. Her father, a farmer, and her mother, who looked after the home, did not have great resources, but they always valued education as the way to get ahead.

Like many young women from the provinces, Dina travelled to Lima to study and build her future. She entered the Law Faculty of the Universidad San Martín de Porres, where she graduated as a lawyer. To pay for her studies, she worked at the Municipality of San Martín de Porres, a job that let her get to know public administration up close and that would shape a good part of her professional career.

The career in the State: the years at Reniec

After graduating, Dina Boluarte went to work at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec) as a registrar, where she stayed for around 17 years. At the body responsible for the national ID card and the civil registry she rose to hold zonal management posts, building a technical and administrative career far from the political spotlight.

In 2018, already close to 60, she made the leap into party politics as a candidate for Perú Libre for the mayoralty of Surquillo, without success; in 2020 she tried to reach Congress with the same left-wing party, which would later run the rural teacher Pedro Castillo for the presidency. Her profile as a lawyer and public servant, added to her Andean and provincial origins, made her a key piece of the party's electoral ticket.

How did Dina Boluarte reach the Presidency of Peru?

In the general elections of 2021, Dina Boluarte was the vice-presidential candidate on Pedro Castillo's ticket, which won in the run-off in one of the closest electoral processes in Peru's democratic history. After the victory, she held the post of Vice-President and, at the same time, was appointed Minister of Development and Social Inclusion (Midis) during Castillo's government.

On December 7, 2022, Castillo tried to dissolve Congress through a coup d'état, an action Parliament answered with his removal and subsequent arrest. In that context, Boluarte assumed the Constitutional Presidency, becoming the country's first woman president. Her government, however, was born amid social protests that left dozens dead, above all in regions of the southern Andes, and a political crisis that never died down.

The Scandals that Marked her Term

The 'Rolexgate': The Watch Controversy

In the middle of March 2024, one of the biggest scandals of her term broke out: the digital outlet La Encerrona revealed photographs in which Boluarte was wearing a collection of high-end watches, including several Rolex models, which did not appear in her sworn asset declarations. The scandal was quickly named the “Rolexgate”. Faced with prosecution investigations for alleged illicit enrichment, Boluarte first claimed the watches were the fruit of her “effort” and then said they were items “lent” by the regional governor of Ayacucho, Wilfredo Oscorima. The case opened multiple judicial fronts that stayed with her until the end of her term and afterwards.

The “Los Waykis en la Sombra” Case and her Family Circle

Another delicate flank was the one involving her closest circle. Her brother, Nicanor Boluarte, was named by prosecutors and the media as an alleged political operator “in the shadows” of the Executive, investigated in the case “Los Waykis en la Sombra”, an alleged influence network that is said to have operated inside the government. (You can read more in his full biography of Nicanor Boluarte). Her son Daniel Felwig Gómez Boluarte was also questioned over his appointment to public posts and over traffic incidents that made headlines.

The Removal from Office of October 2025

The climate of instability that characterised her government reached its end on October 10, 2025, when Congress approved her removal from the presidency for moral incapacity, corruption and other serious charges with 122 votes in favour. Dina Boluarte left office after almost 3 years in power, plunging the country into a new transition process. In her place the then president of Congress, José Jerí, took over the presidency, in a handover that took place in an atmosphere of extreme political tension.

Personal life: family and ties

Dina Boluarte married in 1992 the lawyer David Gómez Villasante, with whom she had two sons: David Eduardo, an economist and diplomatic official, and Daniel Felwig, a musician and communicator. The couple divorced in 2010, although they kept a cordial relationship. Unlike other public figures, the former president has always been very reserved about the details of her family life, although her sons have been present at key moments of her political career.

The family ties, however, also brought her problems: beyond her brother Nicanor's legal situation, during her government her sons' contracts and trips were questioned, feeding the perception of nepotism that the press investigated throughout her term.

Dina Boluarte in 2026: former president and under the eye of the courts

After her removal, Dina Boluarte faces a complex judicial landscape. In March 2026 the constitutional complaint against her in the case known as “El Cofre” was declared admissible by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations, opening the door to a possible process before Congress. In June 2026 the judiciary rejected her request to suspend the effects of her removal and, that same month, a labour court ordered Reniec to pay her more than S/ 200 thousand for employment entitlements from her time as a registrar, in the enforcement of a ruling her defence celebrated as an endorsement of her record as a public servant.

On the political side, the arrival in power of Keiko Fujimori after winning the run-off of June 7, 2026 meant a new scenario: the Fujimori government has reviewed several legacies of the Boluarte government, and the former president has sought to keep a public presence through opinion columns, such as the one published in May 2026, in which she defended her administration and called for “preserving” what her government had advanced. Her name, in any case, is still tied to the judicial processes that will decide her legal future in the coming years.

Dina Boluarte trivia

• She is the first woman to hold the Presidency of the Republic of Peru, a post she assumed on December 7, 2022.
• She was the last of 14 siblings and was born in Chalhuanca, a small city in Apurímac more than 3,000 metres above sea level.
• She worked for around 17 years at Reniec, the body that issues the national ID card, before making the leap into party politics.
• Her wedding to David Gómez Villasante was held in 1992 and the divorce came in 2010, after 18 years of marriage.
• During her term, series and documentaries about her government premiered, and her image appeared in memes and political campaigns alike.
• Her removal from office on October 10, 2025 was approved with 122 votes, one of the widest margins in Peruvian republican history.

Conclusion

Dina Boluarte's story is that of a woman of humble origins who reached the country's highest office and whose administration ended up devoured by political crisis and scandals. Her rise from Chalhuanca to the Government Palace represents an unprecedented historic fact in Peru, but her legacy will be marked by instability, the complaints and a removal that abruptly closed her term. In 2026, her future is being decided in the courts, while the country writes a new political chapter under Keiko Fujimori's government.

Sources consulted

• Congreso de la República: Congreso aprueba vacancia de Dina Boluarte con 122 votos a favor
• El Comercio: Dina Boluarte, la primera mujer en asumir la Presidencia del Perú (perfil)
• Infobae: Dina Boluarte, los datos poco conocidos de la primera presidenta del Perú
• Milenio: Dina Boluarte, quiénes son sus hijos y a qué se dedican
• La República: SAC del Congreso declaró procedente denuncia constitucional por caso El Cofre
• La República: Poder Judicial rechaza intento de Dina Boluarte de suspender su vacancia
• La República: Poder Judicial inicia ejecución de sentencia para que Reniec pague más de S/200 mil a Dina Boluarte
• Wikipedia: Dina Boluarte