The announcement came in the form of a terse text message. Sender: peter castle. Mirtha Vásquez had resigned a day earlier and on Tuesday, February 1, uncertainty was breathed in the ministries, about who left and who stayed. Although the president had already advanced in his decisions, without letting go of the “shadow cabinet” and with the participation of one of the ministers.
It happened at 4:22 pm All the members of the outgoing cabinet received this message from Pedro Castillo on their cell phones: Ministers, good afternoon, on behalf of all Peruvians, I thank you for your services. I hope they continue to contribute to this Government in future responsibilities”. That was it.
According to Palace sources, several of the ministers, including some who already knew they would be ratified, were grateful for the opportunity given.
YOU CAN SEE: Minister Chávarry makes changes in the top leadership of the Ministry despite the resignation of the premier
Just on Sunday, January 30, in the midst of the crisis over the departure of Avelino Guillén, the ministers Pedro Francke and Anahí Durand they had traveled with President Castillo to Caballococha (Loreto). At no time did he inform them whether or not they would remain in the cabinet.
That is why Francke wrote to Castillo on Monday to ask him whether or not he would go to the Budget Commission on Tuesday, or if a new Minister of Economy and Finance would go. The president replied that yes, that he come to expose. But already on Tuesday afternoon it became clear that Francke would not continue to lead the sector and in Congress they suspended the session.
So was the uncertainty. Giselle Ortiz (Culture) was returning from a trip from Kuelap (Amazonas) to a district, not knowing if he was going back to Lima or not. Anahí Durand (Woman) was in her office. Juan Carrasco (Defense) was still hospitalized, recovering from the symptoms of the new coronavirus. víctor Maita (Agriculture) was in his office, pending whether or not they would renew their confidence in him to continue with the second agrarian reform.
YOU CAN SEE: Pedro Castillo met with Roger Nájar for almost 3 hours at the Government Palace
A Palace source said that, in an internal conversation, Pedro Castillo referred to Minister Maita as someone who “did not collaborate.”
Collaborating means allowing a sort of takeover in the sectors with recommendations from Palacio’s advisers. In truth, Maita had indeed yielded in the appointment of the Deputy Minister of Policies, John Altamirano, a man from Cajamarca about whom in the Agriculture sector they assure that he came to the position due to the proximity of his wife with the first lady, Lilia Paredes.
All in all, Pedro Castillo said goodbye to this cabinet. There was no minimal explanation of why they were removed from the cabinet, nor a balance or evaluation of their efforts. Just a brief text message sent to their cell phones.
YOU CAN SEE: Mirtha Vásquez: “I don’t have a feeling of failure, I do feel anguish over what is going to happen”
Debut and farewell. Appointment of Valer contributed to the crisis. Photo: John Reyes / The Republic
The Valer Cabinet
Yes OK Hector Valer He maintained that he had spoken with Pedro Castillo about the recomposition since the beginning of January, the decisions for this group of ministers were made in a flash from Monday itself, After formalizing the resignation of Mirtha Vasquez.
The decision to leave Vásquez was adopted on Monday jointly between the president and the former premier.
If Castillo went ahead via Twitter to announce this change, It was only because Vásquez had asked a third person to submit his resignation letter and the table of parties is not exactly inside the Government Palace.
YOU CAN SEE: “Cabinet in the shadows” supported Héctor Valer as prime minister
That same Monday afternoon, Castillo contacted the Minister of Health, Hernando Cevallos, and he proposed to assume the leadership of the Council of Ministers, according to Palace sources.
Cevallos, who already knows the internal movement in the Palace, set two conditions: the departure of shadow advisers Biberto Castillo and Beder Camacho. And the second condition was to have the freedom to decide the composition of the new cabinet.
Castillo did not answer him any more. He chose to maintain control in the composition of the new cabinet, along with his advisers.
YOU CAN SEE: Without mea culpa, Pedro Castillo prepares another cabinet change
TO Bibert Castillo he is credited with appointing the new economy minister, Oscar Grahamwith whom they have known each other since the first worked in that sector, as parliamentary coordinator.
From those years also comes the closeness of Biberto Castillo with Josué Gutiérrez, former legislator and president of the Budget Commission and now adviser in the bowels of the Free Peru caucus.
There was speed in the formation of this cabinet.
YOU CAN SEE: Mirtha Vásquez on Pedro Castillo: “The big problem is this closest environment that he has”
About the new Minister of the Environment, Wilber Knew, from Palacio they inform that he arrives basically because he belongs to Peru Libre. He previously tried to work in that sector, but the main obstacle was his meager resume. He is now a minister.
Castillo’s advisers were only concerned with the distribution of power, without doing the most important thing: scanning the background of the paintings. That is why Héctor Valer happened.
Although yesterday the congressman William Bermejo He again rejected the fact that it was he who proposed Héctor Valer, authorized voices from the Palace report the opposite. Bermejo recommended Valer, just as he did with Luis Barranzuela. Double mistake.
YOU CAN SEE: Francke: President Castillo’s circle of advisers are the ones with the main power
After the allegations of family violence and corruption aired this week, Héctor Valer yesterday made his position available, in a letter mentioning that the request sent to Congress to schedule a session to expose the government plan was something coordinated with the president.
Also on this end there was lousy advice. The official letter sent by Valer to Parliament includes the option of a matter of trust, despite the fact that this issue had never been discussed in the Council of Ministers, as required by law.
Cabinets. Castillo had two groups of ministers in one week and is now looking for a new one. Photo: Presidency / LR composition
The shadow cabinet
What has been reported so far confirms, then, that President Castillo has decided to keep the members of the “shadow cabinet” in his circle.
YOU CAN SEE: Eduardo Salhuana: “The problem and, I hope, the solution is President Pedro Castillo”
Former Presidential Secretary Carlos Jacob had issued the memorandum to remove FAG adviser Biberto Castillo from office. However, sources from the Executive informed this newsroom that the dismissal was never made official, by decision of President Pedro Castillo.
Biberto Castillo remains in the “shadow cabinet”, along with Beder Camacho. There is trust between the two, to the point that when, at the end of last year, Jaico wanted to remove Biberto Castillo, who blocked the process was Beder Camacho, in his capacity as undersecretary.
It was these advisers who would have convinced President Castillo to act quickly, to play the two silver bullets of the confidence issue against Congress and thus avoid a vacancy.
YOU CAN SEE: Pedro Castillo gave a message to the nation amid controversy over the appointment of Valer
These are also the advisers of Pedro Castillo’s terrible messages to the nation. When the clandestine meetings of the president in the house of Breña were revealed, from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), with Mirtha Vásquez at the head, they recommended that he go out and give a message to the country, stating that he will collaborate with the investigations and even considering lifting banking secrecy. But the “shadow cabinet” put together a message that was heavily criticized for its emptiness.
But there is a minister who, according to Palace sources, has joined this circle. A week ago, from the Executive came the version that the head of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Robert Sanchez (Together for Peru), had become a functional character in the “shadow cabinet”.
Roberto Sánchez leads the Foreign Trade and Tourism portfolio since July 29, 2021. Photo: Mincetur
While this group close to Castillo was putting together Valer’s cabinet, according to Palace sources, Robert Sanchez He also participated in this process and it was even he who called the lawyer César Landa Arroyo for his appointment as future minister.
YOU CAN SEE: Pedro Castillo: “I have made the decision to recompose the ministerial cabinet”
In fact, Landa arrived at the Palace and the version was that he would assume the portfolio of Justice and Human Rights. But only there, inside the Government House, was he informed that he would be sworn in as head of the Foreign Ministry.
The “shadow cabinet” is still there, while Pedro Castillo holds meetings in search of help. Yesterday, among the visits he received in the afternoon, that of Roger Nájar stands out. He remained at the Palace from 4:50 p.m. to 7:25 p.m.
Castillo also received in the morning another group of people linked to the left and congressmen from Peru Libre from the teachers’ bloc.
YOU CAN SEE: Mendoza after message to the nation: “We are at a point where a change of people is not enough”
According to witnesses of the meeting, Castillo asked them for support in the formation of the new cabinet. He said that he had allowed himself to be given bad advice, alluding to the appointment of Héctor Valer. Despite the mistakes, he maintains the “shadow cabinet”.
Keiko reappears, she doesn’t blame me either
In the midst of the political crisis, the former presidential candidate accused of allegedly leading a criminal organization, Keiko Fujimorireappeared yesterday in RPP to insist on a fraud, without any evidence, and to propose the departure of the president. Neither did mea culpa.
“Here the disease is Pedro Castillo, the solution is for him to leave office,” he commented, at the time of slipping that the options go from the resignation of the president, the vacancy or a constitutional accusation.
YOU CAN SEE: “Without self-criticism”: this is how the foreign press reported on Castillo’s message to the nation
His reappearance occurs in circumstances in which another sector of the right also presented this week a constitutional accusation against President Pedro Castillo.
Keiko Fujimori
The indictment is signed by Fernán Altuve, Ángel Delgado, Hugo Guerra, Francisco Tudela, César Vignolo and Lourdes Flores Nanowho also joined the previous disinformation campaign about the alleged fraud, without providing any solid evidence.
By the way, Keiko Fujimori reappears in a context in which businessman Giancarlo Bertini Vivanco returns to the country, who had escaped in 2018 and now made himself available to justice to tell how US $ 800,000 that he gave him was laundered Jaime Yoshiyamathe latter noted for receiving contributions from Odebrecht.
