THE GUARDIAN: President Pedro Castillo completes his cabinet after causing shockwaves with appointment of controversial Guido Bellido as prime minister
After 24 hours of uncertainty and the worst Friday in years on the stock exchange, Peru’s new president, Pedro Castillo, has completed his cabinet, swearing in the moderate leftist economist Pedro Francke as finance minister, and in the process calming jittery investors and anxious Peruvians alike.
Aníbal Torres was also sworn in, as justice minister, on Friday, filling the remaining empty cabinet posts. The rest were sworn in late on Thursday, amid deep unease over Castillo’s choice of prime minister, Guido Bellido, who is under investigation for allegedly defending the Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group that killed tens of thousands of Peruvians in the 1980s and 1990s, and is also accused of making homophobic remarks.
In a pointed rejection of Bellido’s controversial views, Francke vowed to work “towards good living, with equal opportunities, without the distinction of gender, ethnic identity or sexual orientation” when he took the oath as minister. » | Dan Collyns in Lima | Saturday, July 31, 2021
