Peru’s caretaker leader admits dining and shopping with Chinese entrepreneurs he never logged, including one barred from leaving home for alleged Amazon timber mafia ties, pushing the fragile Andean republic toward its eighth presidency since 2016.
Interim President José Jerí stood before Peru’s congressional oversight committee Wednesday night and confessed: he shared unregistered meals and shopping trips with two Chinese entrepreneurs, failed to record the encounters in the official diary, and allowed one—currently under house arrest for Amazon illegal-logging ties—repeated entry into the presidential palace.
The admission ignited a criminal investigation for influence peddling and illegal lobbying, compelled the attorney general to open a confidential file, and intensified demands for Jerí’s immediate removal only 102 days after he was sworn in. Peru now barrels toward an April 12 general election with its seventh head of state since 2016 fighting for political survival.
The undisclosed meetings
According to Jerí’s own testimony, the timeline is:
- 26 December 2025: Jerí, face obscured by a hood, dined at the Lima restaurant of Yang Zhihua, a Chinese-Peruvian businessman awarded a 2023 concession to build a $400 million Andean hydroelectric plant he has yet to start.
- Early January 2026: Jerí returned to the same complex—this time a wholesale store also owned by Yang—to “buy candy.”
- Multiple January visits: Ji Wu Xiaodong, under court-ordered house arrest for alleged links to a timber mafia operating inside the Amazon, entered Government Palace three times. Jerí claims Ji Wu “only served food” and stayed silent “because he doesn’t speak Spanish,” despite Peruvian foreign-ministry records listing Ji Wu as a certified Chinese–Spanish translator.
None of the encounters appear in the mandatory presidential logbook required by Peru’s transparency law. Failure to register official meetings is itself a potential administrative crime punishable by removal from office.
Why the scandal matters
Peru is Latin America’s most volatile democracy. Since 2016, five elected presidents, one interim leader, and one vice-president-turned-president have been ousted, impeached, or jailed. Chronic instability has:
- Paralyzed multi-billion-dollar mining investments that fund 20 % of the national budget.
- Allowed violent crime to surge 28 % in 2025, according to official crime statistics.
- Deepened public contempt for Congress, whose approval rating languishes at 9 %.
Jerí’s undisclosed Chinese contacts feed every anxiety: foreign influence, opaque energy concessions, illegal Amazon logging, and a presidency born in a midnight impeachment. Opposition lawmakers label the affair “Hoodie-gate,” arguing that if a hooded president can clandestinely meet concession-holders and alleged timber traffickers, no public contract is safe.
Legal cross-hairs
Attorney General Tomás Gálvez confirmed a confidential preliminary probe into Jerí for:
- Influence peddling: Using public office to benefit Yang’s stalled hydro project.
- Illegal lobbying: Allowing Ji Wu—formally barred from movement—to operate inside the palace.
Convictions carry up to eight years in prison. Jerí sent Gálvez a letter offering “statements and clarifications,” but prosecutors have already requested security-cam footage, visitor logs, and phone metadata.
China’s stake—and Peru’s
China is Peru’s largest trading partner, buying one-third of all Peruvian exports, led by copper and fishmeal. State-owned China Southern Power Grid already operates 60 % of the national electricity distribution system. Any hint that palace access speeds concession approvals risks:
- Triggering anti-Chinese backlash among nationalists.
- Scaring Washington and Brussels, which view Peru as a buffer against Beijing’s Belt-and-Road advance in South America.
- Undermining $10 billion in pending mining projects that need investor confidence.
What happens next
Three flash-points will decide Jerí’s fate:
- Congress: A two-thirds vote can remove him for “moral incapacity.” The opposition needs 87 of 130 votes; they claim 78 commitments so far.
- Prosecutors: If the preliminary probe escalates to formal charges, Jerí could face pre-trial detention, automatically removing him from office.
- Ballot box: Even if he survives, Jerí is not on April’s presidential ticket. Whoever wins will inherit a justice system probing the last caretaker and a public demanding an end to impunity.
Peru’s political carousel shows no sign of slowing. Each rotation chips away at institutions, investor trust, and citizen patience. Whether Jerí survives the month or becomes another footnote in a chaotic presidential ledger, the deeper crisis—a culture of secrecy around power and money—remains unresolved.
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