Bogotá, March 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to retract her accusations that news outlets are trying to destabilize her government, and to show greater tolerance of criticism in the media.
After the Peruvian Attorney General’s office ordered the search of the home of Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez, who is under investigation for abuse of power, Boluarte in a speech Monday accused what she called “the bad press” of working in cahoots with the Attorney General’s office to carry out a coup against her government.
Boluarte singled out the independent TV investigative news program Cuarto Poder, which often reports on alleged corruption inside her administration, including a recent episode alleging that Santiváñez had demanded bribes. Boluarte said Cuarto Poder “has not stopped harassing me” since the first day of her presidency. She then complained that such “false news” was replicated and rebroadcast by other media outlets.
“Peruvian President Dina Boluarte must retract her outrageous accusations of coup plotting by the media and instead promote an atmosphere in which journalists can work freely and without fear of reprisal,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America coordinator based in Sao Paulo. “Public officials in Peru must be willing to tolerate press criticism and must refrain from making false accusations against independent news outlets.”
Boluarte’s statements were also rejected by the Lima-based Institute for Press and Society as well as the National Association of Journalists of Peru, which described them as the president’s most grave accusations against the media since she took office in December 2022.
Boluarte, whose job approval in a November poll stood at 3%, and her governing team have faced increased scrutiny in the Peruvian press since she came under investigation by the Attorney General’s office last year for alleged illicit enrichment sparked by her wearing of luxury Rolex watches in public.
CPJ’s text messages to the presidential press office seeking comment were not answered.