After more than 48 hours of waiting, President Pedro Castillo has finally announced the names of his ministers of economy and justice. They will be respectively the moderate Pedro Francke and the lawyer Aníbal Torres. They took up their duties early this Saturday (31), in Lima.
In fact, both had already accepted the president’s invitation, but, faced with the choice of radical leftist Guido Bellido Ugarte to be prime minister, both backed down. Castillo spent long hours trying to convince them. Guido Bellido surprised those who thought Castillo would choose a more accommodating name for the job.
The new chief of the cabinet of ministers faces trial for alleged “apologia for terrorism” for praising the actions of the guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso, which sowed horror and violence in Peru in the 1980s /1990. Bellido is also famous for his homophobic phrases and for claiming, for example, that homosexuals should leave the country, citing Fidel Castro as a role model.
Francke has been advising Pedro Castillo since the election campaign. The economist, a graduate of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, has helped politicians on the moderate left, such as former candidate Verónika Mendoza.
In several interviews, Francke said Castillo should follow Uruguay’s model, during the years of the left-wing Frente Amplio government, with Tabaré Vázquez and Mujica (2005-2020). During the period, the country adopted pragmatic economic policies that maintained the sustainable growth of the country for 15 years, while extending social protection policies to the more modest.
Francke is not in favor of nationalization or changes in the pillars of the country’s current economy. One of his demands of Castillo in recent days was that the president of the Peru Free party, Vladimir Cerrón, stop criticizing him publicly. In messages on his social media, Cerrón said that Francke did not have the same ideological line as the party and was more aligned with the “chicago boys”, who would point the finger at “an economic policy that has already failed in so many countries. country”.
The negotiation took effect. On Friday evening (30), Cerrón gave his support by sending out the following message: “Pedro Francke has all our support to implement the policy of economic stability expressed in the Bicentennial plan without corruption.
It cost Torres more that Guido Bellido was so tough in his positions on sexual diversity and against minority rights policies. He eventually agreed after Castillo convinced him that Guido Bellido will have no influence on his work and that he will support measures in this sector. Castillo is a conservative in these areas and is against abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia, but says these issues need to be addressed in parliament.