Peru's new president swears in cabinet

LIMA — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte swore in her cabinet on Saturday, asking them to perform their duties "without committing acts of corruption".

Boluarte has appointed nine men and eight women for 17 ministerial positions in her first Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Pedro Angulo Arana. Appointments of the heads of the Labor and Employment Promotion, and Transport and Communications ministries are still pending.

Angulo was an anti-corruption prosecutor, who once served as dean of the Lima Bar Association and ran for president in 2020.

Boluarte assumed Peru's presidency on Wednesday after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was removed in an impeachment vote by Congress for alleged "permanent moral incapacity".

Boluarte called on legislators to give her a "political truce" to advance her government, promising that she would undertake the fight against corruption, a "cancer that must be rooted out". Currently, she is engaging in dialogue with various political groups in Congress.

'Path of progress'

She addressed the nation after Saturday's ceremony and promised Peruvians a government open to dialogue. She said her team will work for the country's economic reactivation and social justice and walk the "path of progress".

"I want to assure you that I have worked hard to form a ministerial Cabinet for unity and democratic consolidation that is at the level of what the country requires," Boluarte said. "The national unity government will be for all Peruvians."

Although Boluarte took office to complete Castillo's mandate extending through July 2026, she said on Friday that if the situation warrants it, she would call for new elections.

Boluarte's remarks came as protests broke out along parts of the Pan-American Highway in Arequipa, Ica and Tacna regions, where residents have put up roadblocks with stones and sticks to express opposition to Castillo's arrest and demand his release.

Xinhua - Agencies