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PeruThe Peruvian president has appointed her government
Dina Boluarte, the new president of Peru, has appointed 19 ministers in her government, despite the discontent of the streets.
Dina Boluarte in Lima on December 9, 2022.
AFP
Peru’s new president Dina Boluarte announced her government on Saturday as discontent grows in the streets, where supporters of former president Pedro Castillo are calling for his release and new elections.
The new government has 19 ministers, eight of whom are women. The former prosecutor specializing in the fight against corruption, Pedro Angulo, also a lawyer, was appointed prime minister. Earlier in the day, the President of Congress, the highest authority of the Peruvian legislature, José Williams, had called on the new president to take rapid measures, including the appointment of the government, to “generate confidence and tranquility “.
Many protests and roadblocks have been taking place since Thursday in Lima and several cities across the country, including the Andean regions where Pedro Castillo, a former rural schoolteacher, enjoys the greatest support. Students, workers and left-wing political parties called for a protest in Lima on Saturday after the quarter-final matches of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar ended.
Manifestations
Dina Boluarte, vice-president until her inauguration on Wednesday after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo by Parliament, did not rule out the organization of early elections. “I appeal to the sisters and brothers who are coming out to demonstrate to ask them to calm down,” she told the press.
“If the society and the situation deserve it, we will propose elections within the framework of discussions with the democratic forces of Congress,” said Dina Boluarte, wishing to seek a peaceful solution to the political crisis. Hundreds of people marched through the streets of the Peruvian capital on Friday to demand the release of Pedro Castillo. To cries of “putschist”, the protesters burned banners bearing the image of Dina Boluarte.
The police had used tear gas on Thursday to disperse the demonstrators who were already heading towards Parliament, displaying signs “Freedom for Castillo”, “Boluarte does not represent me” or “Dissolution of Parliament”. The Office of the Ombudsman called on Twitter “all citizens to be calm and responsible”, recalling that “the use of violent means during demonstrations (was) prohibited”.
Psychotropics
After his failed attempt on Wednesday to dissolve Parliament and establish a state of emergency, a maneuver described as a “coup d’etat”, Pedro Castillo was placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday for seven days on a complaint from the Public Prosecutor’s Office which is suing for “rebellion” and “conspiracy”.
He is being held in a police barracks, the same where another ex-president, Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), is serving a 25-year prison sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption. His former chief of staff Guidio Bellido as well as Me Guillermo Olivera, one of his lawyers, suggested on Friday that Pedro Castillo had “may have been incited” to dissolve Parliament under the effect of psychotropic drugs.
While the Parliament was to debate a third impeachment procedure against President Castillo, “for moral incapacity”, since his accession to power in July 2021, the one who was still at the head of the country made a solemn declaration on television, wearing the presidential sash, announcing the dissolution of Parliament and the establishment of a state of emergency in the country.
“He doesn’t remember” his television ad, said Guidio Bellido, calling for an “urgent toxicological test” to be carried out on the former teacher. “Everyone saw that he was reading in a shaky way, and I assume that he was under the influence of a sedative”, added Me Olivera, affirming that a glass of “supposed water” had been served to his client before he read “this message written by other people, a few minutes before”.
(AFP)