What to know about the removal of Peru's president — yet again — and what's to come

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Congress on Tuesday voted to remove interim President José Jerí from office, triggering fresh political instability weeks before a presidential election.

Jerí was Peru’s seventh president in less than a decade, and will now be replaced by a member of Congress, who will be expected to lead the country during the April 12 election and until the newly elected president is sworn in on July 28.

Jerí, a 39-year-old lawyer, was elected to Peru’s Congress in 2021 for Somos Peru, a small conservative party. He was the head of Peru’s Congress in October, when lawmakers voted to remove then President Dina Boluarte from office as the nation faced increasing rates of violent crime.

Following Boluarte’s removal, Jerí was elected by his peers as the nation’s interim president, with the expectation that he would stay in office until July, when a new presidential term begins. But his mandate was cut short as corruption allegations surfaced against him and Congress grew impatient with his leadership.

Jerí is facing a preliminary investigation for corruption and influence peddling launched by Peru’s Attorney General’s office earlier this year.

The charges stem from a series of undisclosed meetings with two Chinese businessmen in December. One of those businessmen holds active government contracts, while the other is under investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal logging operation.

Jerí has denied wrongdoing. He said he met the executives to organize a Peruvian-Chinese festivity, but his opponents have accused him of corruption.

While Jerí still hasn’t been found guilty of corruption, his former colleagues in Congress cited the allegations as one of the reasons to remove him, arguing that Jerí had become unfit to execute his presidential duties.

A clause in Peru’s constitution enables legislators to remove presidents who are found to be “morally incapable” of conducting their duties.

This clause has given legislators great leverage over Peru’s executive branch, which has also struggled in recent years to build congressional majorities.

The moral incapacity clause has been interpreted widely by legislators who have used it, along with corruption allegations, to remove presidents that no longer suit the interests of the nation’s political parties.

Peru has had seven presidents over the past decade — with only two of those elected by a popular vote. The others have been vice presidents who have stepped in for deposed presidents, and members of Congress who have been selected by their peers to lead the South American nation.

Despite the revolving door of presidents, Peru’s economy has been stable over the past decade, with governments sticking to orthodox economic policies that include modest fiscal spending.

The South American nation had a public debt to gross domestic product ratio of 32% in 2024, one of the lowest in Latin America, and has welcomed foreign investment in sectors like mining and infrastructure.

However, observers have noted that the nation’s increasingly powerful Congress has also passed legislation in recent years that threatens the independence of Peru’s judiciary.

Legislators will convene Wednesday night to elect a new interim president. Four candidates have been nominated by coalitions within the congress that span the ideological spectrum.

Rafael López Aliaga, a conservative businessman and former mayor of Lima is currently leading a crowded field of candidates that also includes former legislator Keiko Fujimori, a three-time presidential candidate whose father was the nation’s president in the 1990s.

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes in the April 12 election, there will be a runoff in June between the top two contenders.

Rueda reported from Bogota, Colombia.

Demonstrators celebrate after learning Congress voted to remove interim President Jose Jeri as he faces corruption allegations, outside the site where lawmakers met in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Demonstrators celebrate after Congress voted to remove interim President Jose Jeri as he faces corruption allegations outside the site where lawmakers met in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A demonstrator carries a fake coffin with a photo of interim President Jose Jeri after Congress voted to remove him, outside the site where lawmakers met in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Photographed through a gate, Peru's President Jose Jeri, right, stands with Prime Minister Ernesto Alvarez during the changing of the guard ceremony at the government palace in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerardo Marin)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rescue crews on skis and snowcats battled blizzard conditions in an effort to reach six backcountry skiers trapped after an avalanche high in the rugged Northern California mountains that left 10 other skiers missing as the danger of more slides remained high.

The search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after someone called 911 at about 11:30 a.m. to report an avalanche with people buried as a powerful winter storm moved through the state.

Hours later, Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, said six skiers had been located and were asked to shelter in place “as best they can” until they can be reached.

The group was on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trip, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. Reynaud said his group has had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers had spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating “rugged mountainous terrain” on backcountry skis for up to four miles (6.4 kilometers) and bringing along all food and supplies.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that took the group to Castle Peak and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying.

Greene told KCRA-TV that the skiers are in communication with officials through their emergency beacons, which can send texts.

“They are doing the best they can. They have taken refuge in an area, they have made up a makeshift shelter with a tarp and are doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue,” Greene told the television station.

He said rescue teams are making their way to the group cautiously because the danger of triggering more avalanches remains high.

“We have brought in snowcats, we have snowmobiles on standby. We have individuals on skis. We have several different ways that people are attempting to get there,” he said. “It’s just going to be a slow, tedious process."

California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

“It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,” said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center based in Truckee.

The center issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snowfall piling on fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds.

Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe were fully or partially closed due to the extreme weather. The resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry where travel in, near, or below the avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) peak in the Donner Summit area of the Sierra Nevada, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. Donner Summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, that draws people wanting to glide deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort's boundaries. Backcountry skis are wider, heavier and have other features to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis that are narrower and designed for flat, more groomed trails.

In the nearby town of Soda Springs, at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow had fallen in the last 24 hours, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

Forecasters said the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in northern Shasta County — including portions of Interstate 5 — and parts of the state’s Pacific Coast Range could see up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow before the storm moves through late Wednesday.

The storm wreaked havoc on roadways spanning from Sonoma County to the Sierra Nevada. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 near the Nevada state line due to spinouts and crashes, the California Department of Transportation reported.

In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Watson reported from San Diego.

A road is covered in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

Cars are covered in snow during a snow storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

Trucks are lined up along Interstate 80 during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

A vehicle is buried in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

A road is plowed during a snow storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

Snow falls on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

Snow falls on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)

Snow falls on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photos/Brooke Hess-Homeier)