Peru's president swears in his 4th Cabinet half a year

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has sworn in the fourth Cabinet of his half year in office amid criticism for his poor previous choices for ministers and even calls by his rivals to step down

Peru Cabinet (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo swore in the fourth Cabinet of his half year in office Tuesday amid criticism for his poor previous choices for ministers and even calls by his rivals to step down.

His third Cabinet lasted just three days and was led by Héctor Valer, who resigned following revelations that he once faced domestic violence allegations.

Castillo named Aníbal Torres his former justice minister, as the new prime minister to replace Valer. Torres has been in favor of sending former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) to a common prison to serve out his 25-year sentence instead of his current special prison. Fujimori is the father of Castillo's rival, former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori.

Amid an environmental disaster in Peru's capital following the mid-January spill of 11,900 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean, Castillo named nuclear physicist Modesto Montoya as environment minister, replacing an inexperienced geography teacher from a Lima school.

And Peru's president named Hernán Condori, a doctor with experience in Amazon Indigenous territories, as his health minister amid a surge in cases of the Omicron variant.

He left Economy Minister Oscar Graham and Foreign Minister César Landa in their posts.

Castillo took office on July 28, 2021. His struggles this week have only added to earlier doubts raised about the political neophyte’s ability to lead a nation.