The controversy in Peru because the president, Dina Boluarte, doubled the salary

The Peruvian president, Dina Boluarte, with a shiny blue dress, greets the press upon arrival at the United Nations Conference on the Oceans in Nice, France.

- Author, Vanessa Buschschlüter
- Author's title, BBC News
1 hour

The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, issued a decree in which she doubles her salary, in the middle of a wave of high unpopularity of the president and her government.

Boluarte will charge 35,500 soles per month (about US $ 10,000), when it previously received about 16,000 soles (US $ 4,500).

According to an international Datum survey, its approval index is at a historically low level, 3%.

Peru's Minister of Economy, Raúl Pérez Reyes, said that the president's salary had increased to match that of another 11 heads of State in Latin America.

“Of those 12 countries, the salary of the current president occupied the number 11,” he said, and said he only exceeded that of the Bolivian president.

Pérez Reyes said that they calculated the average wages, which resulted in about 37,700 soles (US $ 10,600).

The official did not clarify what countries in the region it was, although an article published by the German wave In Spanish published in March 2024 he made a list with the salaries of some Latin American presidents and included 11: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay.

Peru was not included in the ranking.

“Based on this comparison, in dollars corrected by purchasing power and jointly taking into account the highest income in the Executive Power- basically ministers and vice ministers- a projection was made of what would be the position that someone should occupy on top of a minister, who in this case would be the president of the Republic,” he said.

When updating the salaries of the heads of state measured in dollars to July 2025, Uruguay remains the Latin American country that pays its president -about US $ 26,600 a month -but Bolivia ceased to be the one that least remunerates its first president.

Luis Arce's salary is about US $ 3,500 per month (calculated to the official exchange rate), while Javier Milei's remuneration in Argentina decreased to US $ 3,260.

Countries like Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela do not publicly make the salary figures of their rulers.

The new Boluarte salary is almost 35 times higher than the minimum monthly salary, which amounts to 1,025 soles (US $ 288).

The news was received with an annoyance in social networks, where many described Boluarte as “unworthy” and its salary increase of “scandalous.”

Others shared images of the president's recent visit to the city of Arequipa, where her car was stoned and threw eggs, to illustrate the outrage of many Peruvians.

Boluarte was not elected president in popular elections, but assumed power in December 2022 when the previous head of state, Pedro Castillo, was dismissed. She, as vice president at that time, held the position to fill the void.

His presidency has been overshadowed by several investigations, including if he did not declare luxury gifts and if he left his position by not appointing an interim president during his absence for nose surgery.

Boluarte has denied any irregularity, but its already low approval rates have fallen even more as Peruvians get impatient to what, according to them, is their inability to combat the increase in crime.