The President of Peru, peter castle, reported this Monday that he resolved to dismiss the prime minister, Mirtha Vasquez, in the second relief in that position in six months of government, and completely renew the cabinet, after having accepted this weekend the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Avelino Guillén.
“As I have always announced in my speeches, the cabinet is constantly being evaluated; For this reason, I have decided to renew it and form a new team,” the president wrote this Monday afternoon on his official Twitter account.
“I appreciate the support of Mirtha Vásquez and ministers of State; We will continue along the path of development for the good of the country,” he added in the message.
Vásquez confirmed his departure immediately, through the same social network.
“Given the impossibility of reaching consensus for the benefit of the country, I inform that today I presented my letter of resignation to President Pedro Castillo, which was accepted”said the outgoing official.
As I have always announced in my speeches, the cabinet is constantly being evaluated. For this reason, I have decided to renew it and form a new team. I appreciate the support of @MirtyVas and state ministers. We will continue on the path of development for the good of the country.
– Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) January 31, 2022
Three hours after the news was known, there was no more official information and the main Peruvian media still did not mention the names of possible candidates for the succession of the chief of staff.
Vásquez presented his resignation letter to Castillo on Monday morning, related to Guillén’s recent departure from the cabinet, according to the Andina news agency and the newspaper La República.
Guillén resigned last week, two weeks after he had recommended to Castillo that he fire the general commander of the National Police of Peru (PNP), General Javier Gallardo, and the head of state did not respond to him.
Finally this weekend Castillo accepted Guillén’s resignation and, at the same time, fired Gallardo.
Vásquez then decided to present his irrevocable resignation because Castillo would not have fulfilled an alleged promise to grant him a term to convince Guillén to withdraw his resignation, according to the digital newspaper IDL-Reporteros.
The president ordered the renewal of the cabinet to avoid the political cost of the possible loss of other ministers -among them, the Economy, Peter Francke– in those who were upset by the circumstances of Guillén’s departure, according to Peruvian media quoted by the Sputnik agency.
“Unfortunately, we have reached the point of not having been able to at least advance in consensus on the leadership of a sector as important as the Interior, and neither on respect for its institutional lines, so I doubt the possibility of advancing in other essential changes in other areas”, stated Vásquez in his letter of resignation.
Given the impossibility of reaching consensus for the benefit of the country, I inform that today I presented my letter of resignation to the President @PedroCastilloTe, which was accepted. I reaffirm my commitment to the country and the changes for social justice. pic.twitter.com/OseIsX2zo5
– Mirtha Vásquez (@MirtyVas) January 31, 2022
“In that sense, despite the efforts made, I believe that at this stage my role has been exhausted, and that a reorganization of the cabinet is necessary for your government, which I had been warning about for weeks,” added the outgoing prime minister, who stressed that his resignation was “irrevocable.”
The former official stressed that during her administration “several moments of crisis have occurred, some caused by opposition groups with clear coup intent; others for issues associated, unfortunately, with possible acts of corruption or irregularities committed by high-level officials of this administration.”
Cajamarquina -like Castillo- and 46 years old, Vásquez, who belongs to the Broad Front, of moderate left, was the second head of the president’s cabinet, who last Friday he served six months at the head of the government.
He had taken office on October 6, after the removal of Guido Bellido, one of the main figures of the ruling Free Peru (PL) radical left party. He previously presided over the unicameral Congress between November 2020 and July 2021.
Bellido told Castillo, through Twitter, that “the country requires a war general in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and a solid cabinet to face citizen insecurity, lack of work, corruption and caviar sabotage” (adjective with which the moderate left is called in Peruvian political jargon).
“Count on the support of your party and the people who elected you”, added the former chief of staff and current legislator, very close to Vladimir Cerrón, the leader of PL, the party that Castillo joined a few months before running for the Presidency.
“The decision that the president is taking seems healthy to me; with this I also call for the president’s reflection that we have to know how to elect people who help govern the country”, said Katy Ugarte, also a PL parliamentarian.
Among the opposition, congressman Eduardo Salhuana, from Alianza Para el Progreso (APP), said that Vásquez’s resignation is “the chronicle of an announced departure” and “a political step that was going to take place anyway in relation to the resignation of Minister Guillén”.
“We hope that Castillo takes the reins of the country once and for all and that he makes the changes that are necessary,” said legislator Rosángela Barbarán, of the Fujimori Popular Force party, according to RPP radio.
Meanwhile, fellow parliamentarian Alejandro Cavero, from Avanza País, said that the replacement “It is worrying because it is the second ministerial change that occurs in a very short time”, although he added that “The way this cabinet was running was absolutely unsustainable.”
