The socialist government of Pedro Castillo plans to participate in the operation of gas and hydroelectric power stations

The new Prime Minister of Peru, Guido Bellido, announced that the State should participate in “strategic sectors” as the exploitation of natural gas and in new hydroelectric projects under the new leadership of leftist Pedro Castillo.

Bellido, a congressman of the ruling Marxist party Peru Libre, further stated that the cabinet formed a “special commission” which lists the measures to deal with the acceleration of inflation and the depreciation of the Peruvian currency against the dollar, seeking to give stability to the local economy.

The head of the cabinet of ministers clarified that the Government does not want to be outside the economic activity of the State and that would even seek to participate as a partner of private companies in key industries for the benefit of the population.

“From my point of view, for example the question of gas, gas is a strategic resource and the government must participateThis is important, and new large-scale hydropower projects are important, ”Bellido said in an interview at the government palace on Saturday.

During the election campaign of the current President Castillo, transnationals were accused of “plundering” Peru’s wealth and it was said that the companies would be nationalized. The speech was then tempered to affirm that private investment would be respected.

“The Minister of Energy and Mines is here with the express directives of the President of start to dialogue, convene companies and talk, the first thing is to dialogue, talk and reach some agreements that benefit the country», Declared Bellido while evoking the question of the exploitation of gas in the Andean country.

When asked if the same is provided for in the mining Bellido replied, “I don’t think this line is necessary.”

The Prime Minister said that according to the current constitution, state-owned enterprises can be established, but “It is necessary to assess which strategic sectors require that they can be strengthened”.

The planned state participation in the gas sector could affect the consortium that produces natural gas in Peru, called Camisea, led by the Argentinian Pluspetrol and whose minor partners are the South Korean conglomerate SK Group and the Hunt companies. Oil and Repsol SA.

After its extraction, the gas is liquefied and exported by the Peru LNG consortium, led by the American Hunt Oil and with the participation of the Japanese Marubeni Corp, Royal Dutch Shell and the South Korean SK Innovation.

STOP THE DOLLAR

Bellido, like other members of the new Peruvian administration, was little known in political circles in Lima before elementary school teacher Pedro Castillo assumed the presidency in July.

The prime minister said Castillo gave “Express orders” to assess the recent price escalation of certain foods and commodities like domestic gas, in addition to the depreciation of the ground against the dollar, which caused inflation to accelerate.

“For this, in the Council of Ministers, we have formed a special commission that works and is headed by the Minister of Economy and Finance,” said Pedro Francke.

“In a few days we will have a report on the actions to be taken,” he said. “We must stop the rise of the dollar, right now we must stop the rise of basic necessitiesAdded the 42-year-old official.

Bellido’s cabinet got off to a rocky start last week, when President Castillo failed to appoint an economy minister in time for the swearing-in ceremony, causing the Peruvian stock exchange and currency to fall on next day in the midst of uncertainty.

Francke had initially resisted being part of a cabinet under the prime minister outright, causing a dead end before the entire government team was formed. Bellido said Francke should consult with the rest of the cabinet.

“Everything is in dialogue, no one can have an island, the economy is not an island,” he said of Francke’s role.

In a broad interview, one of the first since taking office last week, Bellido said he was a socialist politician and that the new government would justify those who have been historically marginalized in Peru.

For this reason, he said, the Government will dialogue with all political forces to seek a constituent assembly and then modify the “neoliberal” Constitution of 1993, and establish, among other things, such issues as the express prohibition of monopolies. .

“We need to validate the aspirations of every farmer in this country,” Bellido said. “Today it is a lesson that a peasant is at the Presidency of the Republic, a cultural lesson.”

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Bellido was born in the Andean region of Cuzco and speaks the indigenous Quechua language, unlike most of the former prime ministers who grew up in Spanish-speaking Lima.

Castillo, who has promised to prioritize the marginalized in remote areas, was quick to dispatch Bellido to help mediate a conflict pitting villagers in an Andean region against Chinese miner MMG LTD who exploits the Las Bambas mine, one of the largest deposits. copper factories in Peru.

Residents, who have blocked a highway that MMG uses to transport copper to a coastal port, complain that freight trucks are covering the area with dust and polluting their land. The villagers suspended their demonstration for 60 days with Bellido’s promise to find a solution to the conflict.

“By having high profitability (the miners) have put aside their environmental responsibility,” Bellido said in the interview. He stressed that companies in the sector will need to invest more money to be friendlier with the communities where the resources are exploited.

During the election campaign, Castillo pledged to raise mining taxes and use these funds to increase investments in health, education and poverty reduction, in a country which is the second largest producer of copper in the world and where mining accounts for 60% of total exports.

“It is an approach which is being evaluated and which involves dialogue, the search for consensus, here no imposition”, however declared Bellido.

(With information from Reuters / By Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrun)

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