The Financial Times writes that, in his first year in office, Peru’s President Pedro Castillo has been a disaster.
Since taking office last July, the president has rattled through four cabinets, four prime ministers, three foreign ministers and two finance ministers. (snip) No Peruvian president has made so many cabinet changes in their first year in office — and there are still four months to go. (snip) Aides, senior police chiefs, army officers and magistrates have all been caught up in the churn, suggesting the country is becoming ungovernable.
Castillo is incompetent or at best out of his depth. Before last year, he had never held elected office. A rural primary school teacher, peasant farmer and one-time trade union activist, he has always looked woefully unqualified for the job, say critics.
Yet the current turmoil did not start with Castillo. Peru has cycled through five presidents in as many years, with successive leaders becoming ensnared in an intensifying feud between the executive and legislative branches of government.
You could argue disgust with experienced politicians was why an outsider like Castillo was elected. No surprise, it hasn’t been a success; such choices rarely are.
