The Peruvian head of state is seeking funds to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. Symbolically, Pedro Castillo, on the left on the political spectrum, announced Wednesday that the presidential plane was going to be put on sale and that the money thus collected would be used to finance the “health and education” sectors. The aircraft is a Boeing 737-528 with a capacity of 70 passengers.
Speaking from the city of Ayacucho, in south-eastern Peru, Pedro Castillo also announced, as other austerity measures, the ban “for any civil servant to travel by plane in first class” in with a view to putting an end to the “privileges of many officials”. “In a government of the people, civil servants will travel like ordinary citizens,” added the former teacher and trade unionist, elected head of the country in July.
Already an attempted sale in 2007
This is not the first time that a head of state has tried to sell the device. In 2007, ex-president Alan Garcia failed to get rid of it after having auctioned it twice. One of the reasons given was the asking price of $ 18.5 million. The plane was acquired by the Peruvian government in 1995 for $ 27.6 million under the presidency of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).
Pedro Castillo has also announced an increase in the minimum wage from 930 to 1,000 sols (or 223 to 250 dollars) from December 1.