Pedro Castillo

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian former schoolteacher, farmer, union leader and politician who was the 63rd President of Peru from 2021 to 2022. Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress through a self-coup on 7 December 2022 while citing Congress' efforts to block his attempted policies, resulting in the legislative body impeaching and removing him from office the same day. For this, he was sentenced to 11 and a half years to prison in November 2025.

 Early life and education 
Castillo was born to two illiterate peasants in the town of Puña, Tacabamba, Chota Province, Department of Cajamarca. Cajamarca, despite being the location of South America's largest gold mine, has remained one of the poorest regions in Peru. He is the third child of nine in his parent's family.

During the internal conflict that began in the 1980s, Castillo worked in his youth as a patrolman of the Ronda Campesina to defend against Shining Path. A former student of Castillo, Nilver Herrera, followed him into the Ronda Campesina, saying that Castillo "was always trying to help people, ... If we had to build a road, he was there, if we had to do some task or errand, he was there, and if we had to help a sick person who didn’t have money, he was there." These groups held certain leftist beliefs, though they combatted left-wing terrorism in rural areas not under the scope of the Peruvian government.

He completed his elementary and high school education at the Octavio Matta Contreras de Cutervo Higher Pedagogical Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the César Vallejo University.

Political career
Since 1995, Castillo has worked as a primary school teacher at School 10465 in the town of Puña, Chota, where he was responsible for cooking, cleaning and teaching for the students in his classroom.

He became a well known leading figure in the 2017 teacher strike in Peru. He ran for President of Peru in the 2021 general election with Free Peru and defeated Keiko Fujimori in the run-off election in June.

Presidency (2021-2022)
Since taking office, Castillo has distanced himself from Free Peru and became more moderate. He faced two impeachment proceedings in the Peruvian Congress, although both failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office. With the country's raising inflation and disapproval of his presidency, massive protests against Castillo began in March 2022.

His administration has not been able to find a solution to the political crisis and the economic issues the country had. Castillo ultimately left the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent. In July 2022, a fifth investigation was launched into Castillo's possible corruption involvements.

In November 2025, the Supreme Court of Peru sentenced Pedro Castillo to 11 and a half years in prison for criminal conspiracy, for attempting to dissolve Congress and perpetrate a coup in 2022.

Notes

References

Other websites
 Twitter account
 Introduction by Perú Libre website (in Spanish)
 Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)

Category:1969 births
Category:Living people
Category:Teachers
Category:Presidents of Peru
Category:Peruvian educators