Misruled Peru

Peru's ungovernability is reaching unsuspected limits even for a country accustomed to dismissing presidents and ministers at the first opportunity.

The seriousness of the situation is reflected in the nonsense of the last week and the changes that the president, Pedro Castillo, has had to assume in his government.

Political disloyalty is a scourge in the country and the

has not given any ease either, but the problems of recent months affect decisions by Castillo himself and the need to respond almost weekly to a new scandal in his Cabinet.

He has the historical record in 40 years of remodeling a government and that means that in seven months he has fired 21 ministers.

The latest episode accentuates the perception of a serious institutional crisis.

Last week he had to change his government again because the prime minister, Mirtha Vásquez, left office accusing Castillo of not fighting corruption within the system and letting himself be carried away by his collaborators.

To replace her, Castillo appointed Héctor Valer, an ultra-conservative politician who was weighed down by complaints of mistreatment of his wife and daughter, in addition to other open court cases, which have ended with his dismissal three days after the appointment and given the evidence that Congress was not going to confirm him in office.

In the midst of this new storm, the most solid and pragmatic head, the Minister of Economy, Pedro Francke, also left the Cabinet.

Beyond that, there are almost hilarious signs, such as the case of Juan Carrasco,

dismissed as Minister of the Interior and later relocated as Minister of Defense, but last Tuesday he was relieved again.

Meanwhile, other groups demand the dismissal of the head of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, Congresswoman Katy Ugarte, an ultra-conservative school teacher who rejects the LGTBI population, but a member of Peru Libre, the far-left formation chaired by Vladimir Cerrón. , an ultraconservative who boasts of Marxist-Leninist ideas.

Castillo has already had to face a political trial forced by Fujimorism and solved the problem by seeking allies in the opposition, but it is likely that he will face some more in the coming months as his rivals in Congress try to reform the Constitution to find other ways to remove him.

With such speed in the government changes, the conditions are not met to promote sustained economic growth after a pandemic that has shaken the country like few others in Latin America.

President Castillo does not have many options, apart from reversing the current trend and seeking a stability that today seems impossible.

Beyond the stones that have been put in his way, his way of dealing with adversity has not shown signs of efficiency or success in combating them.