Economy Minister Pedro Francke and Justice Minister Aníbal Torres were sworn in at the congress center in Lima late on Friday evening, as the Peruvian newspaper “El Comercio” reported on Saturday.
Francke and Torres had left the National Theater in the capital the day before shortly before the other ministers were sworn in. “El Comercio” reported, citing Castillo’s “Perú Libre” party, that the economist Francke had decided not to join the cabinet in view of the controversial appointment of his party colleague Guido Bellido as head of government. Bellido could face new investigations because of possible connections to the guerrilla organization “Sendero Liminosos” (Shining Path). After intensive negotiations, including with Castillo, Francke, who had advised the new president in the election campaign, accepted the office.
The vacuum in the ministerial post had created a certain degree of uncertainty in the Ministry of Economics. In general, it is eagerly awaited where the course of the actually market-liberal Andean country under the administration of the left-wing president will lead. However, his Marxist-Leninist party “Perú Libre” does not have a majority in Congress. So Castillo has to forge alliances to get his agenda through.
The village school teacher was sworn in as president on Wednesday. He prevailed in an extremely tight runoff election against right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori. The daughter of the ex-ruler Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who was imprisoned for human rights violations, then lodged several complaints. It was not until the previous week that Castillo was officially declared the election winner.
