PERU
On February 9, the president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, appointed Aníbal Torres as the new president of the Council of Ministers, replacing Héctor Valer. Until this appointment, Torres had been the Minister of Justice and Human Rights. Castillo also appointed Hernán Condori as the new Minister of Health, replacing Hernando Cevallos. In addition, he also ratified Oscar Graham as Minister of Economy and Finance, Alejandro Salas as head of the Ministry of Culture and Juan Francisco Silva Villegas as head of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The new officials are already in office.
Below you will find more information on the newly appointed ministers:
- President of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres
He is a lawyer from Universidad Nacional de San Marcos. He holds a PhD in Law and Political Science from the same university, where he also served as professor and dean. Torres has been with Castillo in the Executive Branch since July 31, 2021, when he accepted the Minister of Justice post. He has served in all of the president’s cabinets and has been close to him since the election campaign, when he served as legal advisor to the ruling Peru Libre party.
- Ministry of Economy and Finance, Oscar Miguel Graham
Graham studied Economic Engineering at Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, and went on to earn a master’s degree in economics from Queen Mary University of London, and a master’s degree in Finance from Escuela de Postgrado-Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola. Until this appointment, Graham served as Director General of Financial and Private Pension Markets at the MEF. The new minister was director general of Financial Markets and Private Pension at the Ministry of Economy, as well as director of the Securities Market Superintendency, director of the Deposit Insurance Fund and president of the Multisectoral Commission for Financial Inclusion.
- Ministry of Health, Hernán Condori Machado
Condori Machado is a surgeon and was director of the Chanchamayo Health Network between January 25, 2011 and February 24, 2014. In January 2020 he was appointed as regional health director of the Regional Health Directorate (Diresa in Spanish) of Junín. The new minister is close to Peru Libre founder and leader Vladimir Cerrón. According to the website Epicentro, Condori Machado is under investigation “for alleged crimes of improper collection and incompatible negotiation, for events that occurred in 2019, during his tenure as director of the Chanchamayo Health Network”.
- Ministry of Culture, Alejandro Salas Zegarra
He is a lawyer with a specialization in Political Science from the University of San Martín de Porres. He also holds a Master’s degree in Public Management in National Defense from the Center for Higher National Studies (CAEN in Spanish) and a Master’s degree in Public Management from the same university. He has served as Deputy Manager of Vehicle Services Control at the Superintendency of Land Transport of Persons (Sutran in Spanish), and in 2020 he was Deputy Manager of that body. He is also the brother of the Peruvian Deputy Supreme Prosecutor, Martin Salas.
- Minister of Transportation and Communications, Juan Francisco Silva Villegas.
The Minister, ratified in his office, holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal and a second major in School Management with Pedagogical Leadership from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Silva Villegas was the director of an educational institution in the district of Puente Piedra in Lima.