Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has named Guido Bellido, a member of his Marxist party, as prime minister, a move that see the administration and face an uphill confirmation battle in Congress.
Peru's new Prime Minister Guido Bellido, right, and President Pedro Castillo in Ayacucho, southern Peru. Photo: AFP
Bellido, a congressman, is a member of the self-described socialist Free Peru party, with which Castillo won the presidency this year in the Andean nation.
His appointment underscores the sway that the leftist Free Peru will have in Castillo's administration, which is set to last until 2026.
Castillo had recently tried to strike a moderate tone on economic issues - even as party members doubled down on leftist messaging - but naming Bellido is likely to further spook foreign investors who hoped the president would look beyond his party for political direction. Peru is the world's No 2 copper producer.
Bellido's naming led Castillo's most prominent economic adviser, Pedro Francke, to decline the Finance Ministry job, local dailies El Comercio and La Republica reported. Francke did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Francke, an economics professor, is a centralist and had worked vehemently to try to calm investors fearful of a Castillo presidency.
Still, Bellido and the rest of the Cabinet will need confirmation by the opposition-led Congress, where Bellido's leftist position is set to face stiff resistance. A majority of Congress votes are held by centre and right-wing parties.
Bellido's swearing-in was held in the Southern Andean city of Ayacucho, where Castillo, the son of Andean peasant farmers, won by a landslide.
Bellido, 42, a native of the nearby Andean region of Cuzco, spoke in the indigenous Quechua language as part of his swearing in. He is little known in Lima-centric political circles and has a masters in economics, most recently working for Peru's government statistics agency INEI.
In an interview with local media in April, Bellido defended members of the Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group that led a violent campaign in the 1980s and 1990s in an attempt to take power.
Peru's stock exchange and sol currency have plummeted since Castillo became a likely winner of the election.
The Free Peru Party is led by Vladimir Cerron, a neurosurgeon and Marxist who is an allie of the governments of Cuba and Venezuela. Cerron was unable to run for the presidency or take a Cabinet role due to past corruption charges.
- Reuters/RNZ