Proclaiming that "change is coming," Pedro Castillo, a left-populist political outsider and former school teacher, was sworn in as Peru's new president on July 28—the bicentennial of the country's independence from Spain. The following day, a second symbolic inauguration ceremony was held at the Battlefield of Ayacucho [14], site of the 1824 battle that secured Peru's independence and put an end of Spanish colonialism in South America. (TeleSur [15], Reuters [16])
Hailed as Peru's "first poor president [17]" because of his campesino roots, Castillo overcame weeks of voter fraud allegations (with little to no evidence) lodged by losing far-right opponent Keiko Fujimori. He has pledged to redraft the constitution and raise taxes on mines—but also expel migrants [18] to "tidy up the house [19]."
Castillo assumes office amid a profound political crisis and growing social polarization—not to mention by far the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. Price gouging and other corruption in the healthcare sector [20] has made the pandemic even worse in Peru, where one in 100 children has been orphaned [21] by the coronavirus, according to a Lancet study [22]. Poverty—defined as earnings of less than $100 a month–is up 10% [23] since 2020, and now affects nearly a third of the population [24]. (The New Humanitarian [25])
Castillo named as his cabinet chief, or prime minister, Guido Bellido, a newly elected lawmaker from Cuzco who is on the more hard-left wing of Castillo's Perú Libre [26] party. The anti-terrorist arm of the Fiscalía, Peru's chief prosecutor, opened an investigation into him earlier this year over comments he made in an interview [27] that appeared to defend Sendero Luminoso. However, upon being sworn in as a member of Congress and chief of the cabinet, he has immunity from prosecution. (Perú21 [28], DW [29])
Bolivia's President Luis Arce, who attended the symbolic inauguration in Ayacucho together with ex-president Evo Morales, has announced [30] that a "Binational Cabinet" will be installed jointly with Castillo's government to address matters of importance to both countries, and in which social movements will participate. Moves toward establishing a Peru-Bolivia Binational Cabinet had been undertaken by Morales before he was removed in a coup d'etat in 2019. (Kawsachun News [31], TeleSur [15], Andina [32])
However, Vladimir Cerrón, the former governor [33] of Junín region who founded Perú Libre in 2008, tweeted [34] his speculation about a "caviar conspiracy" on the part of Peru's elite political class to co-opt Castillo, stating "We have to assure the change that the Fatherland needs!" Two days before the inauguration, he mobilized supporters to rally outside Castillo's Lima home. They chanted: "If Castillo goes wrong, the party will straighten him out!" Cerrón, while still a powerful figure on the left wing of Perú Libre, is under restricted movement as the Fiscalía investigates corruption charges against him, related to the clean-up of the heavily polluted La Oroya [35] industrial site. (El Comercio [36], Gestión [37], Libertad Digital [38], LAT [39])
Castillo is certain to face obstruction from Congress, where an opposition-led alliance won a vote for the body's leadership two days before the inauguration. The new president of Congress is to be María del Carmen Alva of the centrist Acción Popular [40] party. A more hard-right contender, retired military general Jorge Montoya of Renovación Popular [41], was defeated. Alva has pledged to seek an "equilibrium of powers" in Congress, and says she considers herself anti-fujimorista. But Fujimori's Fuerza Popular [42] bloc supported Alva, seemly angling for broader support to block Castillo's agenda. Fujimori promised that her party will be a "wall of contention" to Castillo's plans for a new constitution. (La República [43], Reuters [44], Gestión [45], Latin America News [46], Canal N [47])
