Uncertainty in Peru

The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, spoke to Lima on July 28.ANGELA PONCE / Reuters

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• Pedro Castillo's turbulent start in Peru

The start of Pedro Castillo's term as president of Peru could not have been more uneven.

If the election of a radical leftist as prime minister almost forces that the most moderate profiles of the Government were not part of it, just before the end of a month in office, the chancellor had resigned due to misplaced statements.

The uncertainty does not bode well for the future of Castillo or, above all, for Peru, a country that is in urgent need of political stability at a delicate moment.

Héctor Béjar's resignation was caused by the controversy triggered by statements by this 85-year-old ex-guerrilla and sociologist in which he claimed that terrorism in Peru was born because of the Navy, instead of being the responsibility of the Maoist group Sendero Luminoso. Béjar's position is not an isolated case either, since Guido Bellido's appointment as prime minister and his past sympathies for the terrorist organization had drawn much criticism.

The instability of the government, which was formed after a highly agitated campaign by accusations of fraud by Castillo's rival, Keiko Fujimori, which were never proven, has hit the new president badly. All this has taken its toll on him, to the point that he is the most unpopular president of the last five that Peru has had. All of this should be a warning to Castillo, who must send signs of certainty sooner rather than later within the country, but also abroad. The reaction, somewhat disproportionate, that the markets have had with the new Administration, with falls in the Stock Market and a strong depreciation of the currency, has led to an increase in some of the basic products that, there is no doubt, will hit the classes More popular.

Peru, an emerging country that managed to reduce poverty through recognized fiscal discipline and opening its markets, opted for the election of a rural teacher as the new president. Pedro Castillo's commitment to fight to give more power to the popular classes, historically degraded in the Andean country, deserves all the recognition, as well as the legitimacy of his victory. This, however, cannot be achieved at any price or at the cost of satisfying sectors close to it that have shown more than evident signs of an exacerbated radicalism that, clearly, cannot bring anything good to Peru.