With Peru in the global spotlight for APEC, so is one of the world’s least popular presidents

Associated Press

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The high-profile Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima has thrust one of the world’s least popular presidents into the limelight. It’s not just that Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has never before rolled out the red carpet for powerful leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It’s that she has hardly been seen outside her brick mansion for weeks. She became president by accident, after the contentious ouster of her predecessor in December 2022. As the summit got underway Thursday, protesters angry over a recent surge in crime clashed with police, defying Peruvian officials’ desperate pleas to stay off the streets during the tightly choreographed conference.