Peruvian President Pedro Castillo is quickly losing the backing of left-wing and centrist groups that have supported the government after his decision to appoint several controversial Cabinet members earlier this week.
At the center of the latest political crisis is new Peruvian Prime Minister Hector Valer, who had to deny in a Thursday news conference allegations of domestic violence against his wife and daughter.
Calls for his replacement came from women’s organizations, centrist lawmakers who had previously supported the president and right-wing parties that have always opposed him. Some have called for Castillo to resign.
Photo: AFP / BRAZILIAN PRESIDENCY / ALAN SANTOS
Other Cabinet picks have also outraged Peruvians, including a minister of women who has spoken against gender equality and an environment head without experience in public management.
Street protests against them were set to start in Lima just two days after they were sworn in and expected to continue through today.
“Valer’s Cabinet was born with so many blemishes and wounds that it may have a shorter life than those of his predecessors,” said Fernando Tuesta, a Lima-based political analyst.
On Thursday, Vladimir Cerron, founder of the political party that helped Castillo become president, also criticized his Cabinet choices.
Castillo “has erred greatly” with the appointments, he wrote on Twitter.
Castillo’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Valer is Castillo’s third prime minister in six months of government. The president has repeatedly made changes to his Cabinet as he tries to appease socialists in his own party while retaining congressional support to fend off impeachment — the fate of several of his predecessors in the politically volatile nation.
Amid the growing political crisis, Castillo traveled to Brazil on Thursday for a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — an encounter between two leaders from opposite sides of the ideological spectrum.
Back at home, he faces not only protests in the streets of Lima and a myriad of crises, including a catastrophic oil spill and a surge in crime, but also growing opposition in congress.
Three right-wing parties have already announced that they would not give a required vote of confidence to the new Cabinet, and would instead push again for Castillo’s impeachment.
Center-left leader Veronika Mendoza, who helped Castillo win the election by gaining some voters from Lima’s upper and middle classes, also parted ways with the president this week.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that people’s expectations of change have been betrayed,” Mendoza wrote on Twitter. “We will have to persist and take to the streets.”
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