Peruvian Castillo Maru cabinet modified under pressure from the opposite

File Photo: President Pedro Castillo of Peru leaves parliament on July 28, 2021 after an oath ceremony in Lima, Peru.Reuters / Angela Ponce / File Photo

August 24, 2021

Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrunn

Lima (Reuters) -Peruvian leftist president Pedro Castillo is considering a cabinet reshuffle, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sources close to Castillo demanded anonymity to discuss a decision that had not yet been published.

According to sources, the minister of this line belongs to the Marxist-Leninist Peru Libre Party, which promoted Castillo https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-election-castillo-newsmaker-idCAKCN2DS1N1 as president. Head of Labor, Transport and Defense Ministry.

Sources said Monday that Peru Libre’s Prime Minister Guido Verido was asked to resign. But he later said that Verido and Castillo had reached an agreement.

Belido said he had not resigned to Reuters on Monday night.

Castillo took office after a fierce battle with his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori. He was declared the winner of the June 6 election with only 44,000 votes, or 0.25 percentage points.

According to a recent IEP poll, Castillo faces significant challenges in his fledgling presidency this week. This is seen favorably by only 38% of Peruvians.

Opposition-led parliament will vote Thursday to turn the Verido-led cabinet a green light or reject it altogether. This forces Castillo to return to the drawing board.

Castillo replaced one already under pressure minister, his foreign minister, with a hard-left pick for a more modest one.

However, pressure on change is increasing and it is not clear whether he currently has enough votes to confirm his cabinet in Congress.

Fujimori said on Twitter Thursday that 24 out of 130 votes were the second most powerful party in parliament, and that the legislature should not confirm the cabinet.

Fujimori quoted allegations that Labor Minister Ibel Malavi participated in the violence as a member of the Shining Pass rebellion group. Malavi denies that claim.

“We will talk with the Minister of Labor and then, with the President, make the best decisions for the country,” Verido told reporters on Tuesday.

Shining Pass killed tens of thousands of Peruvians in the 1980s and 1990s in an attempt to overthrow the government and introduce a Maoist communist regime.

Prime Minister Belido is also plagued by allegations that he is sympathetic to the Shining Pass. In a Facebook post made years before he joined the cabinet, Verido appeared to be defending a former rebel.

In response, the prosecutor, who has not been charged, has begun investigating whether Verido is a “terrorist dialectist.” He denies that claim.

(Report by Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrun, edited by Lisa Shumaker)