Pedro Castillo puts more women in government and appoints Mirtha Vásquez Prime Minister of Peru: who is he?

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, appointed the environmentalist and human rights activist as chief of staff on Wednesday Mirtha Vasquez, who replaces Guido Bellido, of the hard wing of the ruling party, after accepting the resignation of his entire cabinet.

The designation represents a wink from Castillo to the moderate wing of the tacit left coalition which supports him in the fragile government which awaits him until 2026.

Who is Mirtha Vasquez? She is a 46-year-old lawyer and former president of Congress. He was sworn in on Wednesday evening, during a ceremony at the Government Palace broadcast by state television which his predecessor did not attend.

“By God, for this country of women and men who fight every day to live in dignity, without discrimination, and which promote real change, yes, I swear! “said the new ministerial chief of staff.

The proclamation sounded as a response to chauvinistic and misogynistic outbursts which Bellido posted during his short ten-week tenure.

Vásquez replaces Bellido, an engineer with no political experience 41-year-old figure from the hard wing of the ruling Peruvian Free Marxist-Leninist party, involved in a verbal confrontation with Congress.

Vásquez, who is a 46-year-old lawyer who, like President Pedro Castillo, comes from Andean Department of Cajamarca, has made human rights a professional cause for years, which has made it a symbol not only at the national level, but also beyond the Peruvian borders.

Specifically, the new chief of staff won international awards for his legal defense of Máxima Acuña, a peasant woman whom the powerful mining company Yanacocha wanted to expel from her land, in Cajamarca. After a long David versus Goliath fight, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in 2014.

Years after the notorious affair, Vásquez entered politics and in 2020 she was elected member of Congress for the leftist party Frente Amplio. At the end of the same year, he became President of the Parliament, a post in which he accompanied the interim President Francisco Sagasti and in which, according to widespread opinions, he demonstrated great skill.

Besides Vásquez, the president swore in the 18 other ministers who are members of the new cabinet, among which he ratified the chiefs of the economy, Pedro Francke, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Oscar Maúrtua. And the number of women in the team has increased, with the new ministers of Labor, Betsy Chávez, and Culture, Gisela Ortiz.

The cabinet then have five wives instead of the two on the ledge.

Of the total of 19 ministers who make up the cabinet, there are seven new ones and the remaining 12 have been ratified. Among those fired is Labor Party leader Iber Maraví, to whom the press attributes suspected participation in terrorist attacks 40 years ago.

The Castillo government includes members of the radical Peru Libre, the moderate Ensemble pour le Pérou and trade unionists from the teachers’ union led by the president, among the most notorious forces.

“The new stage of #GobiernoDelPueblo seeks to promote dialogue, governance and teamwork. Our big goal is to fight for the most vulnerable and we will achieve itCastillo tweeted.

Internal divisions

The first reactions jumped out in the eyes of Twitter, turned into a gigantic digital wall newspaper where the left looks about their differences, highlighting the fragility of the executive.

“The change of cabinet must exclude the rightists, the Cavians and the traitors,” tweeted Peru’s secretary general, Libre, Vladimir Cerrón, outraged by the turnaround.

“It is time for Free Peru to claim its share of power, guaranteeing its real presence or the bench will take a firm position. Nuevo Peru and Frente Amplio have already been served, “he threatened.

The former member of the Front large, Rocío Silva, instead welcomed the appointment. “What is really revolutionary is to put a woman on the left, who fought against the big mining company, a feminist defender of violence against girls and women, in a high political position. A woman who took to the streets and arrested the putschists: it’s Mirtha Vásquez! Silva tweeted.

Castillo took over the government on July 28 for a five-year term amid the hopes of thousands of compatriots, but also the concern of many Peruvians fearing a brutal turn towards socialism after decades of liberal politics.

Right-wing parties dominate a Congress fragmented. But none have a majority, and the ruling Free Peru is the first minority with 37 of the 130 seats.

Castillo had announced Bellido’s resignation hours earlier during a surprising message of only three minutes.

But in his resignation letter, circulated by the press, Bellido indicated that he was stepping away from the Executive at the president’s request.

“We do not know what the causes are. Today the president asked me to present the resignation letter and I immediately acceded to that request, ”Bellido added to reporters, who will return to Congress to serve as an MP.

Left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo surprisingly won the presidential elections in Peru, beating right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori in a close ballot on June 6, after a campaign marked by polarization.

“It is time to put Peru above all ideology and isolated party positions,” said the president during his brief speech, in which he wore his typical large straw hat.

Clarin press room with information from the agencies

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