Peru’s President Pedro Castillo on Friday named a close ally already censured by congress as his new prime minister in an apparent escalation of the government’s fight with the legislature.
Castillo swore in Betssy Chavez, who was labor minister until congress forced her resignation in May, as his fifth prime minister since taking power in July 2021 and after Anibal Torres quit the position Thursday night. The fact that the president picked an ally with rocky relationships with the opposition-held congress threatens to deepen a political crisis that already saw two failed attempts to impeach Castillo.
“Without a doubt, this is a provocation,” said Carlos Melendez, a political scientist at the Lima-based 50+1 Grupo de Analisis Politico consulting firm. “The government is putting itself on a track to close the congress.”
