South America
Protests in Peru: President wants to reshuffle cabinet
Supporters of the ousted Peruvian President Castillo protested on the Pan American North Highway last Thursday. photo
© Hugo Curotto/AP/dpa
The impeachment of Pedro Castillo sparked violent protests in Peru. The state of emergency still applies. Interim President Boluarte now wants to ensure calm with a cabinet reshuffle.
Peru’s interim president, Dina Boluarte, is planning a cabinet reshuffle after violent protests against the impeachment of her predecessor, Pedro Castillo. Among other things, she wants to fill the post of prime minister, Boluarte said in an interview, as Peruvian media reported on Sunday (local time). She wants to “counter social dissatisfaction” and “build bridges of dialogue,” said Boluarte. The cabinet reshuffle should therefore be implemented by Tuesday.
The head of cabinet is also called prime minister in Peru, but is only the highest-ranking minister and not the head of government in the South American country. Pedro Angulo has only held this post for around ten days.
By dissolving the Congress, then-President Castillo wanted to forestall a vote of no confidence in Parliament. His cabinet and the opposition accused him of a coup d’etat – Castillo was removed from office on December 7, arrested and held in custody. Boluarte took over.
State of emergency declared for 30 days
On Thursday, the court ordered another 18 months in custody. In the south and south-east of Peru, where the former village school teacher has a particularly large number of supporters, but also in the capital Lima, there have been protests against his dismissal and clashes between demonstrators and the police. The Boluartes government declared a state of emergency for 30 days and a five-day night curfew in 15 provinces.
At least 17 people were killed in clashes, according to the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights. Another five people died in traffic accidents and other incidents related to road blockades. Education Minister Patricia Correa and Culture Minister Jair Pérez resigned over the deaths.
Air and train traffic has been suspended in parts of the Andean country, which is why, according to Peruvian media, thousands of tourists were stuck in the city of Cusco, which the government had been taking away since Friday.