World
Boluarte swears in Cabinet amid unrest

(UPDATE) LIMA: Peru's new leader Dina Boluarte unveiled her Cabinet on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) as street protests ramped up on seeking new elections after Pedro Castillo's removal as president.Boluarte, Peru's first woman president, oversaw a ceremony in which 19 ministers — eight of whom are women — took the oath of office at the presidential palace.Boluarte was hastily sworn in on Wednesday hours after Castillo, who faced a series of corruption probes, tried and failed to dissolve Congress, which then impeached him. Castillo is now under arrest.Boluarte's new chief of staff is a former prosecutor who specialized in corruption cases and her new Cabinet comprises members seen as technocrats who are politically independent.'Consolidation of democracy, rule of law, balance of powers, governability — this is the essential line of my government,' Boluarte, who was vice president under leftist Castillo, said in her first speech.The 60-year-old lawyer has said she will serve out Castillo's term through July 2026, but on Friday she did not rule out holding an early presidential vote.Elections are a key demand of protesters who have been blocking roads and burning tires across the country, which has a record of political upheaval and instability.Protests took a violent turn on Saturday in the southern Andean city of Andahuaylas, where thousands of protesters and police clashed. TV images showed that protesters had taken a police officer hostage and bound him to a pole.A police precinct in Andahuaylas confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that an officer was taken hostage, and that protesters were pelting the precinct with rocks.'We call for calm given the events taking place in Andahuaylas,' the National Police tweeted.Students, workers and left-wing political parties had announced fresh rallies on Saturday evening in the capital Lima to demand new elections and to protest the ouster of Castillo.

'A usurper'

TROUBLE BREWING Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte (left) congratulates Cesar Fernandez, her newly sworn Minister of Interior, during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Cabinet ministers at the Palace of Government in Lima on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 (December 11 in Manila). Boluarte unveiled her Cabinet on Saturday as street protests ramped up on seeking new elections after Pedro Castillo’s removal as president. AFP PHOTO