Peru: With cabinet changes, Pedro Castillo relaunches his government. The president described the measure as “the beginning of a new phase”.

Lima. From

President Pedro Castillo Has qualified for your new council of ministers as “the beginning of a new phase” in his government. This is only two months after taking charge. He indicated that in this “new phase” Priority will be given to “Dialogue, Governance and Joint Work”, for which he chose a former Congressman from the moderate left as the head of the cabinet, Mirtha Vasquez, That she has been the Speaker of the Parliament and has shown the ability to consult. A human rights lawyer and a feminist, Dialogante’s profile is very different from that of the outgoing head of cabinet. guido bellido, whose management itself was also marked by confrontation with members of the government, and was heavily criticized for past sexist and homophobic statements.

With this change of cabinet, Castillo seeks to reduce the harsh confrontation with the opposition, which had called for Bellido’s departure. The Extreme Rights, formed by Fujimori and two other groups, totaled 130 . Connects 43 seats out of In a unicameral parliament, it managed to unite other areas of the center with a more liberal right against the government., united by his question of Belido, which got him 88 votes, The head of state needs to be removed by appealing one of the 87 vague figure of “moral incompetence”, Which leaves the door open for the removal of the President in an appeals summary process for any reason. Legislators of that extreme right-wing coup were already talking of promoting Castillo’s removal.

The first effect of the cabinet change, at least in the immediate term, would be to break the coalition that the extreme right-wing coup formed to lead to the government’s collapse. Although this ultra-right would not put aside its coup attempts and has already begun to criticize the new cabinet, the change has been well received by other opposition groups, with the government now seeking to build bridges. has been This gives Castillo a break. a government that is a minority A Congress where right-wing extremism seeks to forge a coalition to overthrow it, that needs to build bridges with the most liberal sectors of the opposition, does not mean setting aside promises of change, which Castillo reiterates, his priority is. The cabinet change facilitates this task, which the previous head of the ministerial party never wanted to do; on the contrary, he did everything possible to blow up those potential bridges.

But this “new phase” announced by the president has not been well received among interns by the ruling party’s leadership. free peru (PL), who defines himself as a Marxist-Leninist. Belido was supported by the leadership of the PL, headed by their Secretary General, Vladimir Serono, of the so-called “radical zone” of the ruling party. The region, which has been pressing for more power in the government, has been badly defeated by the change of cabinet. An angry Cerrone’s first reaction has been to threaten the government with the removal of the support of the PL bench, but not all 37 of its members are aligned with Cerrone.

“This is a better cabinet than the previous one. This change strengthened Castillo’s government, Makes it more homogeneous, consistent and more efficient. In the previous cabinet, Bellido was Cerrone’s spokesman, who wanted to lead the government and interfered heavily with Castillo’s actions and seemed to have two presidents. Such a government cannot run. Now castillo There will no longer be that interference and there will be more unity within the government.” page 12 sociologist cinecio lopez, university professor and newspaper columnist Republic.

The new cabinet must seek a vote of confidence from the Congress and to get it, it needs the support of at least one area of ​​the opposition. Spokespersons’ earlier statements for a more liberal opposition will aim to give confidence to the cabinet headed by Mirtha Vasquez. But now the vote of an area of ​​the PL ruling party is not certain, which, if complied with by the threats launched by Cerrone, may vote against his government’s cabinet, with which to gain more power in the government. In their eagerness to fight for Cerrone and his group want to play the game on the extreme right who wants to blow up Castillo’s presidency.

“Cerrone and Bellido will have to manage their anger and frustration, isolating themselves if they insist on their stand against the new cabinet, their position being a minority on the government bench. Castillo to Congress with Peru Libre Might be a problem, but not as much as Cerrone imagines. the far right will never be satisfied“It will always find something to attack the government, but with this new cabinet the government can have better relations with the Center and with the Center and with the business community,” says Lopez.