José María Balcázar

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José María Balcázar Zelada (born 17 January 1943) is a Peruvian politician and lawyer who served as the president of Peru from 18 February to 28 July 2026. First elected to Congress of Peru as a member of the Free Peru party in 2021, he resigned his membership in 2022 and helped found Bicentennial Peru, a parliamentary bloc of dissident Free Peru congresspeople. He returned to the Free Peru caucus in 2024 but remains as an independent, after Bicentennial Peru's dissolution. He was briefly a member of Alfonso López-Chau's party, Now Nation, until he was expelled in early 2026. Following the censure and removal of José Jerí from the presidency on 17 February 2026, Balcázar was elected as president of Congress and in turn voted in as president of Peru the following day. Balcázar has faced controversy in his political career, including criminal investigations related to allegations of illicit appropriation of funds, his links to Patricia Benavides during the Peruvian Public Ministry controversy...

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