In our last post we wrote about the presidential elections. In the mean time the candidate for the communist party Peru Libre, Pedro Castillo won the elections. The results were unknown for a long time because there were many accusations of fraud. On the 28th of July the moment had come, Pedro Castillo was sworn in as the president of Peru. The 5th president actually in our time in Peru.

We were hoping that he would start of in a moderate manner but unfortunately this has not been the case. The president presented his cabinet and as its leader, the prime minister, Pedro Castillo appointed someone who is currently under investigation for supposed support for terrorism and even for visiting training camps of the terrorist group Shining Path. The prime minister had already been elected to congress for Peru Libre. Because of the investigation into links with terrorism, he was not prohibited by law to participate in commissions in which sensitive information related to defense etc. would be shared. Now he has access to all this information as the prime minister.

The president and the prime minister

In Peru, a new cabinet has to be approved by congress in its first 30 days. There is a good chance that the current cabinet will not be approved by congress. The tricky thing is that the president can close congress should it not approve multiple cabinets. It is very possible that this cabinet will not be approved, that a new cabinet will be presented with again questionable persons that will be sent home as well and that congress will then be closed. What would happen then, especially with the current government, is quite uncertain.

Peruvian politics at least is not boring. Unfortunately such instability is not good for the country and one way this is becoming visible is the devaluation of the national currency. When we came to Peru in 2017, one US dollar was worth approximately 3,35 Peruvian sol. Now this is 4,09 Peruvian Sol, an increaso of roughly 22%. We will have to wait and see what the coming weeks/months will bring Peru, Diospi Suyana and us. Contrary to the average communist, we know that God is with us. In a way, this makes all the rest seem not so important.