Peru appoints its fourth cabinet in six months
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The fourth cabinet comes amid setbacks and attacks from the radical right that launched a failed attempt to impeach the South American country's President Pedro Castillo.
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Peru's President Pedro Castillo with the newly appointed Prime Minister Anibal Torres.
Peru's leftist President Pedro Castillo appointed Tuesday a new cabinet, the fourth since he came to power six months ago, including replacing a prime minister who lasted just three days in office.
"Yes, I swear," Anibal Torres, a lawyer taking over the role of prime minister, declared as he was sworn in by Castillo in a brief ceremony at the government palace in Lima.
Torres, 79, has been the head of the Justice Ministry since the current government took power in July.
Facing setbacks
Castillo's six months in office have been overloaded with setbacks and attacks from the radical right that launched a failed attempt to impeach him.
A week ago, Castillo appointed his third cabinet after the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez due to disagreements over promotions in the police force.
In his place, the President appointed lawyer and parliamentarian Hector Valer Pinto. Local media reported that the latter's wife and daughter had denounced him in 2016 for alleged domestic violence.
Three days later, Castillo announced that he was going to "reshuffle" the cabinet again, marking the departure of Valer.
Race against time
Since 2017, Peru has experienced recurring instability after political leaders began pushing "vacancy" motions in Congress to abruptly get rid of presidents.
This led the country to have three presidents in five days in November 2020.
Torres now has 30 days to get a vote of confidence from Congress for the new cabinet.
If the right-wing opposition-controlled Parliament denies him, Torres must resign and Castillo must form a fifth cabinet.
