Pedro Castillo

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His Excellency

Pedro Castillo
Castillo in November 2021
63rd President of Peru
In office
28 July 2021 – 7 December 2022
Prime Minister
Vice President
  • First Vice President
  • Dina Boluarte
  • Second Vice President
    Vacant
Preceded byFrancisco Sagasti
Succeeded byDina Boluarte
Personal details
Born (1969-10-19) 19 October 1969 (age 54)
Puña, Cajamarca, Peru
NationalityPeruvian
Political partyFree Peru (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations
Spouse(s)
Lilia Paredes (m. 2000)
Children2
Alma materCésar Vallejo University (BA, MA)
OccupationPolitician, Union Leader
ProfessionSchoolteacher, Farmer
ReligionRoman Catholicism
Signature

José Pedro Castillo Terrones (born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian former schoolteacher, farmer, union leader and politician who was the 63rd President of Peru from 2021 to 2022. Castillo attempted to illegally dissolve Congress through a self-coup on 7 December 2022 while citing Congress' efforts to block his attempted policies, resulting in the legislative body impeaching and removing him from office the same day.

Early life and education[change | change source]

Castillo was born to two illiterate peasants in the town of Puña, Tacabamba, Chota Province, Department of Cajamarca.[1][2] Cajamarca, despite being the location of South America's largest gold mine, has remained one of the poorest regions in Peru.[1][2] He is the third child of nine in his parent's family.[1]

During the internal conflict that began in the 1980s, Castillo worked in his youth as a patrolman of the Ronda Campesina to defend against Shining Path.[3][4][5] A former student of Castillo, Nilver Herrera, followed him into the Ronda Campesina, saying that Castillo "was always trying to help people, ... If we had to build a road, he was there, if we had to do some task or errand, he was there, and if we had to help a sick person who didn’t have money, he was there."[5] These groups held certain leftist beliefs, though they combatted left-wing terrorism in rural areas not under the scope of the Peruvian government.[6]

He completed his elementary and high school education at the Octavio Matta Contreras de Cutervo Higher Pedagogical Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the César Vallejo University.[7]

Political career[change | change source]

Since 1995, Castillo has worked as a primary school teacher at School 10465 in the town of Puña, Chota, where he was responsible for cooking, cleaning and teaching for the students in his classroom.[1][2][7]

He became a well known leading figure in the 2017 teacher strike in Peru. He ran for President of Peru in the 2021 general election with Free Peru and defeated Keiko Fujimori in the run-off election in June.[8][9]

Since taking office, Castillo has distanced himself from Free Peru and became more moderate.[10][11][12] He faced two impeachment proceedings in the Peruvian Congress, although both failed to reach the necessary votes to remove him from office.[13][14] With the country's raising inflation and disapproval of his presidency, massive protests against Castillo began in March 2022.[15]

His administration has not been able to find a solution to the political crisis and the economic issues the country had.[16] Castillo ultimately left the Free Peru party in June 2022 to govern as an independent.[17] In July 2022, a fifth investigation was launched into Castillo's possible corruption involvements.[18]

Peru's Congress approved on 1 December a motion to start impeachment proceedings against Castillo.[19] On 7 December it was reported that Castillo had declared a national curfew and attempted to dissolve Congress in order to stop the impeachment process.[20] Shortly after his declaration, most of his cabinet resigned and he was impeached.[21]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Students' struggles pushed Peru teacher to run for president". Associated Press. 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Santaeulalia, Inés; Fowks, Jacqueline (2021-04-12). "Perú se encamina a una lucha por la presidencia entre el radical Pedro Castillo y Keiko Fujimori". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  3. ↑ "Pedro Castillo: Habrá minería «donde la naturaleza y la población la permitan»". Energiminas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  4. ↑ Acosta, Sebastián (2021-04-08). "Pedro Castillo cerró su campaña con un mitin en la Plaza Dos de Mayo". RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Buenos Aires Times | Inequality fuels rural teacher's unlikely bid to upend Peru". Buenos Aires Times. Bloomberg. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  6. ↑ Allen, Nicolas (1 June 2021). "Pedro Castillo Can Help End Neoliberalism in Peru". Jacobin. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 PERÚ, Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA (26 January 2021). "Elecciones 2021: Conoce el perfil de Pedro Castillo, candidato del partido Perú Libre". andina.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  8. ↑ "Peru Stocks Tumble as Presidential Vote Spooks Investors". Bloomberg.com. 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  9. ↑ Cervantes, Marc Jones, Tom Arnold, Maria (2021-04-12). "UPDATE 2-Socialist surge in election spooks Peru's financial markets". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-04-13.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Aquino, Marco; Rochabrun, Marcelo (2021-11-05). "Peru's Congress confirms new moderate left Cabinet". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  11. ↑ Collyns, Dan (2022-02-06). "Peru's prime minister to step down after allegations of domestic violence". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  12. ↑ "El peor arranque de un gobierno en los últimos años: ningún presidente nombró tantos PCM en sus primeros 6 meses de gestión" [The worst start of a government in recent years: no president has appointed so many PCMs in his first 6 months in office.]. RPP (in Spanish). 2022-02-08.
  13. ↑ "Congreso no admite a debate moción de vacancia contra Pedro Castillo". La Republica (in Spanish). 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  14. ↑ "Peru's president avoids impeachment after marathon debate". Al Jazeera. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  15. ↑ "Presidente Pedro Castillo anuncia inamovilidad social en Lima y Callao para este martes". RPP (in Spanish). 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  16. ↑ "Analysis: Peru's Castillo hardens stance on mining protests as economy stumbles". Reuters. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "Peruvian President Pedro Castillo leaves Marxist political party that helped bring him to power". Perú Reports. 5 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "Peru: Case against Castillo reopened despite immunity". MercoPress. 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  19. ↑ "Peru Congress backs motion to start impeachment against Castillo". Reuters. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. ↑ Taj, Mitra (7 December 2022). "Peru's President, Facing Impeachment, Says He Will Dissolve Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Taj, Mitra (2022-12-07). "Peru's President Quickly Ousted After Moving to Dissolve Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-07.

Other websites[change | change source]

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