Peru: the new president announces her government, discontent swells
Peru's new president, Dina Boluarte, speaks to the press on December 8.
AP - Fernando Vergara
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The new president of Peru Dina Boluarte announced her government this Saturday, December 10 as discontent grows in the streets.
Supporters of former President Pedro Castillo are calling for his release and new elections.
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The new government has 19 ministers, eight of whom are women.
The former prosecutor specializing in the fight against corruption, Pedro Angulo, also a lawyer, was appointed Prime Minister.
The Foreign Affairs portfolio went to Ambassador Ana Cecilia Gervasi, and that of the Economy to Alex Contreras.
The lawyer Luis Alberto Otárola, Minister of Defense during the mandate of President Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), has again been appointed to this post.
The holders of the Labour, Transport and Communications portfolios have not yet been named.
Ms. Boluarte, vice-president until her inauguration on Wednesday after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo, did not rule out the organization of early elections, which the supporters of the former president are demanding, as well as the release of the latter. .
"
I appeal to the sisters and brothers who are coming out to demonstrate to ask them to calm down
," she told reporters.
“
If the society and the situation deserve it, we will propose elections within the framework of discussions with the democratic forces of Congress
,” said Ms. Boluarte, wishing to seek a peaceful solution to the political crisis.
Earlier in the day, the President of Congress, the highest authority in the Peruvian legislature, José Williams, had called on the new president to take rapid measures, including the appointment of the government, to "generate confidence and
tranquility
".
Pro-Castillo demonstrations
Many protests and roadblocks have been taking place since Thursday in Lima and several cities across the country, including the Andean regions where Pedro Castillo, a former rural schoolteacher, enjoys the greatest support.
► To read also: The dismissal of Pedro Castillo, the final episode in a Peru that has become ungovernable?
Students, workers and left-wing political parties called for a protest in Lima on Saturday from 9 p.m. GMT, after the quarter-final matches of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar ended.
Hundreds of people marched through the streets of the Peruvian capital on Friday to demand the release of Pedro Castillo.
To cries of "putschist", the protesters burned banners bearing the image of Dina Boluarte.
After his
failed attempt to dissolve Parliament
and establish a state of emergency on Wednesday, a maneuver described as a "coup d'etat", Pedro Castillo was placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday for seven days on a complaint from the Public Prosecutor's Office which is suing for "rebellion" and "conspiracy".
(
With
AFP)
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Peru
Pedro Castillo