Como una paradoja ideológica que marca el desorden político que golpea Perú, la izquierda volvió al poder con José María Balzacar Zelada, tres años y dos meses después de la destitución del presidente Pedro Castillo, hoy preso y condenado a 11 años, 5 meses y 15 días de cárcel por conspiración.

Balcazar, de 83 años, gobernará por apenas cinco meses y dos semanas, hasta el 28 de julio, un país en crisis y en plena campaña electoral.

Leé también: Tras exigirle a Irán un acuerdo nuclear, Trump volvió a amenazar con un ataque militar

El veterano líder izquierdista, que salió del Partido marxista Perú Libre, le entregará el poder al candidato que resulte electo en las elecciones del 12 de abril próximo.

De esta manera la izquierda volvió al gobierno de manera inesperada cuando todo hacía prever la elección de la derechista María del Carmen Alva en el Congreso.

¿Habrá indulto a Pedro Castillo?

Balcazar, antes de ser electo presidente, dejó la puerta abierta a un indulto a Castillo. “El sur pide su liberación”, dijo, al aludir a las manifestaciones a favor del expresidente izquierdista en su feudo electoral.

Esta posibilidad amenaza con causar un terremoto político en un país que atraviesa una crisis institucional interminable y que ya lleva ocho presidentes en los últimos 10 años.

Su sorprendente asunción como presidente encargado generó una profunda incertidumbre en el país, en especial en el ala conservadora del Congreso. Pero también generó profundas dudas en la izquierda.

¿La causa? El partido Perú Libre está sumido en una grave división interna.

“No está claro que puede pasar. Balcazar viene de Perú Libre, pero ya había renunciado. Estaba como congresista independiente. Se peleó con (el líder de la agrupación, Vladimir) Cerrón, que estaba peleado con Castillo. Todo está por verse”, dijo a TN el analista político David Rivera, gerente de producción de la TV Vibe Perú.

Leé también: Alerta en Mendoza: Chile cierra en forma temporal el paso Cristo Redentor

Cerrón, un dirigente de la izquierda radical, está actualmente en la clandestinidad. Sobre él pesa una orden de prisión preventiva dictada en 2024 por colusión agravada y asociación ilícita. A Balcazar se lo llegó a mencionar como el hombre de confianza de Cerrón.

Para Rivera, la elección de Balcazar se entiende porque Perú Libre es un gran operador político que aprovechó la crisis institucional del país y el profundo rechazo que generaba la candidata derechista María del Carmen Alva, acusada de racista y de malos tratos hacia sus pares, entre fuerzas conservadores y de centro. Así se lo presentó como un postulante de “consenso”.

Pero ahora habrá que ver si logra articular un gobierno de transición no confrontativo que lleve en forma tranquila el último período de un gobierno que deberá organizar las elecciones presidenciales.

Quién es el nuevo presidente del Perú

Balcázar tiene una extensa carrera profesional como abogado. Llegó a ser juez superior y juez supremo provisional pero fue apartado de la Corte Suprema tras ser señalado por modificar una sentencia firme.

Desde 2021 es congresista en representación de la región de Lambayeque, en la costa norte del país.

Leé también: Estados Unidos exigió “cambios drásticos” a Cuba en medio de la crisis económica que sufre la isla

Tras la asunción de Castillo, fue un enérgico defensor de su gobierno hasta su destitución el 7 de diciembre de 2022 tras intentar un autogolpe. Pero poco después se alejó de Perú Libre.

Su figura generó una enorme controversia en el país por sus polémicas opiniones vertidas en 2023 en un debate parlamentario sobre la prohibición del matrimonio infantil.

Entonces, argumentó que las relaciones sexuales a temprana edad “ayudan al futuro psicológico de la mujer”. Estas declaraciones suscitaron la condena de ONG y partidos políticos.

Incluso, antes de su elección como presidente encargado, el Colegio de Abogados de Lambayeque cuestionó su idoneidad para asumir el gobierno.

Según recordó, fue expulsado de la entidad porque “se le imputaron cargos éticos, civiles y penales, como la apropiación de fondos de la institución, cambio de titularidad en las cuentas en distintas entidades financieras, querellas, defraudación de persona jurídica, etc”.

Además, desde 2024, enfrenta una acusación por presunta corrupción.

A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison Thursday for leading an insurrection after declaring martial law in December 2024.

Yoon was found guilty of abuse of authority and masterminding the insurrection.

Yoon, 65, denied the charges and argued that he had presidential authority to declare martial law and that his action was aimed at sounding the alarm over opposition parties’ obstruction of government.

NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG UN’S DAUGHTER SEEN AS FUTURE SUCCESSOR: SPY AGENCY

Prosecutors said in January that Yoon’s «unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law undermined the function of the National Assembly and the Election Commission … actually destroying the liberal democratic constitutional order.»

Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law lasted roughly six hours, sparking mass street protests before parliament quickly voted it down.

Under South Korean law, masterminding an insurrection carries a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty.

SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENTIAL OUSTER PART OF CHINESE STRATEGY TO ‘EXPAND ITS REGIONAL INFLUENCE,’ EXPERT SAYS

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison on Feb. 19 for leading an insurrection after declaring martial law in December 2024. (AP)

While courts last imposed a death sentence in 2016, South Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997.

Yoon is expected to appeal the ruling.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol greets his supporters after he came out of a detention center in Uiwang, South Korea, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP)

Yoon faces eight ongoing trial proceedings and was already given a five-year prison sentence last month in a separate case on charges including obstructing authorities’ attempts to arrest him following his martial law declaration. He has appealed that sentence.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A philanthropic organization known as Coefficient Giving, which is mainly funded by liberal billionaire Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, is being knocked for quietly funding a slate of «radical projects» and donating millions to defund the police groups, anti-ICE initiatives and other progressive causes over the course of several years.

Before changing its name from Open Philanthropy to Coefficient Giving and divesting from its «criminal justice reform» initiatives to a split-off group called «Just Impact,» Open Philanthropy awarded hundreds of grants to primarily far-left groups in that category over six years.

Among the groups that Open Philanthropy donated to were JustLeadershipUSA, a group that compares the criminal justice system to slavery, Color of Change, a staunch defund the police advocate, People’s Action, which has claimed law enforcement was waging a «war against Black people,» and Fair and Just Prosecution, an advocate for eliminating cash bail.

CCP-CONNECTED MILLIONAIRE ALLEGEDLY BANKROLLS MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR GROUPS THROUGH DARK MONEY NETWORK

The group also made donations to the Free Migration Project, which has called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the National Bail Fund Network, a coalition of groups that helped bail participants of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. After Minnesota activist Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent earlier this year, Free Migration Project posted on their Instagram that «ICE and Border Patrol cannot be reformed. They must be abolished.»

Remarking on the donations, Curtis Schube, director of research and policy at the Center to Advance Security in America, slammed Open Philanthropy, saying the group «quietly funds all kinds of radical projects, including those that eliminate bail demands for criminals and that seek to defund the police.»

«These aims are the opposite of social welfare,» said Schube. «They make society less safe and harm the very communities they claim to be concerned about.»

The group that Open Philanthropy awarded the highest amount of money to was the Alliance for Safety and Justice, a progressive organization that advocates for replacing incarceration with community-led safety strategies and trauma recovery services. The group received a total of $11,750,000.00 from Open Philanthropy through just three donations between 2016 and 2018.

Open Philanthropy gave $4,440,000.00 to JustLeadershipUSA, whose president, DeAnna Hoskins, previously emphasized the need to defund the police, framing it as a «divestment from law and order to an investment in protection in thriving communities.»

A spokesperson for Coefficient Giving clarified that the group’s donations «supported a variety of projects designed to improve public safety, reduce government spending, and keep families together.» The spokesperson said the group ceased these types of donations in 2021.

The group’s website states that the criminal legal system is «part of a much larger system of oppression that disproportionately plagues Black, Brown, and poor communities.» Further, JustLeadershipUSA’s website states that the carceral system «is in fact a dumping ground for the country’s other failed systems» and «contains strong remnants of slavery.»

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

A rally to defund police in Chicago, July 24, 2020.  (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The website states the group is committed to «disrupting» the carceral system that it says, «like slavery, is based on the subjugation of those under its control.»

Open Philanthropy gave $3,259,100 to Color of Change and its affiliated entities. In 2021, a Color of Change campaign director advocated for «no more police and no more mass incarceration,» and pressed New York City to cut $1 billion from the police. The group has advocated to «defund the police,» also supporting diverting police funds in Minneapolis. In 2021, the Color of Change also released a statement urging Facebook to «permanently ban» President Donald Trump from the platform and to «take action against his enablers.»

People’s Action, meanwhile, received $1,927,640 from Open Philanthropy. In 2020, People’s Action declared its endorsement of the Movement for Black Lives, a self-proclaimed «anti-capitalist» group. In its statement announcing the endorsement, People’s Action called for «an end to the war against Black people» and demanded schools, colleges, universities and «all public institutions cut ties with the police.»

The group wrote that «police do not keep us safe, and incremental reforms cannot change a pervasive culture of police violence against Black people.»

In Jan. 2026, the People’s Action sent out a press release urging «immediate action to defund ICE & border patrol and get ICE & border patrol out of Minnesota, Maine, and communities across the country.»

Open Philanthropy donated $3 million to Fair And Just Prosecution, a criminal justice reform group that in 2018 co-developed a training model geared towards the offices of newly elected prosecutors that is said was «committed to a justice system that moves away from past incarceration-driven practices and towards principles of equity, fairness, and compassion.»

The group has praised state legislation ending cash bail. In 2021, the group lauded an Illinois bill ending cash bail as a «necessary and long overdue» change.

A spokesperson for Fair and Just Prosecution told Fox News Digital that the group «supports a peer-driven community of local elected prosecutors working toward a justice system that prioritizes public safety grounded in fairness, equity, fiscal responsibility, and humanity.»

Open Philanthropy also seeded the National Bail Fund Network with a $404,800 grant. The network went on to raise millions after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in 2023 that some of the defendants helped by bail funds from the group went on to commit violent crimes.

FAR-LEFT AGITATOR WHO ORGANIZED MN CHURCH STORMING RAKED IN OVER $1 MILLION FROM ANTI-POVERTY NONPROFIT

Signage hangs during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.  (Getty Images)

Open Philanthropy donated $24,000 to the Free Migration Project, a group whose executive director, David Bennion, has previously stated that «ICE should not only be abolished, but its core function of imprisoning and deporting non-citizens must also be eliminated.» 

Bennion has argued that deportation is «not just cruel and economically counterproductive,» but also claimed it is «inconsistent with basic justice and has no place in a legal system predicated on coherent moral principles.»

Though the $130 million donated by Open Philanthropy for criminal justice reform was primarily awarded to progressive groups, the amount includes several donations to conservative groups as well, including the American Conservative Union, which received a total of $612,000.00.

In 2021, Open Philanthropy divested its criminal justice reform program into a split-off group called Just Impact. Open Philanthropy gave Just Impact a seed funding of $50 million spread over three and a half years.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

A spokesperson for Coefficient Giving told Fox News Digital that «until late 2021, Open Philanthropy supported a variety of projects designed to improve public safety, reduce government spending, and keep families together, including funding the American Conservative Union, host of CPAC, to run its Center for Criminal Justice Reform, headed by Pat Nolan.»

The spokesperson said that «among the reforms enacted while Open Philanthropy was funding this work was 2018’s First Step Act, first introduced by then-Congressman and current Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, passed with bipartisan support, and signed into law by President Trump.»