Peru: dance of names for the cabinet of Pedro Castillo | The elected president has summoned technicians from all social spaces to be part of his government

From Lima

“The responsibility is not only the government, it belongs to all Peruvians”said the teacher on Tuesday Pedro Castillo in his first statements to the press after his proclamation as president-elect Monday evening. He asked for “peace” from the “Peruvian people” and “businessmen”. “We are doing a call to all technicians and the most committed people in the country. We structure a work team. All social spaces are welcome, everyone will have the opportunity, ”said the president-elect in brief statements to the press. He stressed that amid the pandemic that makes Peru the country with the highest death rate in the world, the “most important” thing is health. The rural teacher and trade unionist who will assume the country’s presidency next week has spent most of his first day as president-elect meeting his key aides, completing his cabinet. He had a meeting at the miners’ union.

The unfounded claims of the vanquished Keiko Fujimori to seek to overturn Castillo’s votes in an attempt to reverse the election result failed, but They have delayed the proclamation of the president-elect for weeks, which seriously affects the process of transferring the government, which usually takes a month or more and this time will only take eight days. This will complicate the start of the new government. President Francois Sagasti phoned Castillo to congratulate him and invite him to the Government Palace to see the issues with the transfer. “We had a very cordial dialogue,” Sagasti revealed.

Challenges

Castillo will face a complicated scenario. He will take office amid a massive right-wing campaign to discredit him and seek to diminish the legitimacy of its triumph. He will have to face the destabilizing maneuvers of Fujimori and his far-right allies, who have been seeking a coup for several weeks to prevent him from assuming the presidency. There is no doubt that the strategy of this right will be to boycott the new left government to seek its downfall.

Castillo’s first challenge will be to face these destabilizing maneuvers and coup and give his government stability. Something to do with a Congress in which he has no majority and with a hostile press. His other major challenges for the start of his mandate will be coronavirus vaccination, which has already taken a good pace, to face a possible new wave of pandemic with a precarious health system which will have to improve quickly and work for an economic recovery and the resumption of employment, very affected by the pandemic. Meeting the demands for change and improvement of popular sectors should be the main task of your government. Health, education and agriculture will be the priority sectors for their management, as announced by Castillo.

Several names circulated for the ministerial chief of staff, among which that of Dina Boluarte, vice president of Castillo. Who will occupy this post remains unknown amid the secrecy on the subject in the team of Castillo.

Economy

For the Ministry of the Economy, the economist is expressed as the first option Pedro Francké, who was at the head of the economic team of the former presidential candidate Veronique mendoza, of the progressive coalition Together for Peru. Francke joined Castillo as an advisor for the second round of the elections after a pact between Together for Peru Yes Free peru, the party for which Castillo ran. In recent weeks, he has become one of the closest people to the president-elect and has met with businessmen and representatives of financial organizations. He ruled out nationalizations and announced that he would renegotiate a tax increase with transnational mining companies.

Health

Another of the people very close to Castillo in recent weeks is the doctor and former congressman. Hernando Cevallos, considered almost certain to be the next health minister, a key position at this point. Cevallos, elected legislator in 2016 by the left Wide frontHe worked in public health and was a trade union leader. He said the priority of the new government should be to increase investments in health and ensure the vaccination of the entire population by the end of the year.

Education and diplomacy

At the Ministry of Education, an area of ​​particular interest for Professor Castillo, the famous professor would assume Juan Cadillo, teacher, like Castillo, of a small public primary school in the interior of the country. For his work as a teacher, Cadillo has received national and international awards. In 2017, he was chosen as one of the 50 best teachers in the world by The Global Teachers’ Award.

For foreign relations, the names of the ambassadors ring Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros Yes Harold Forsyth. Rodríguez Cuadros was chancellor of the government of Alejandro Toledo. Forsyth was ambassador to Japan until a few weeks ago, before going to the United States. He is the father of former presidential candidate George Forsyth, a former footballer who ran in the last election at the head of a center-right group. For the Castillo government, the priority of foreign policy will be the commitment to Latin American integration.