When he was elected president of Peru last year, rural school teacher Pedro Castillo was the first leader of the Andean nation in decades with no ties to the elites.
When he was elected president of Peru last year, rural school teacher Pedro Castillo was the first leader of the Andean nation in decades with no ties to the
Peru s new president promises constitution change
2
published : 29 Jul 2021 at 05:45
2 Peru s new President Pedro Castillo said he would seek to replace the free market-friendly constitution
LIMA - Leftist Pedro Castillo was sworn in as Peru s fifth president in three years Wednesday on the 200th anniversary of the country s independence, promising an end to corruption and a new constitution.
The 51-year-old rural schoolteacher, who has vowed to upend a quarter-century of neo-liberal government, enters the job with a lengthy to-do list: tame the coronavirus epidemic, reactivate a flagging economy and end years of political turmoil. I swear by the people of Peru for a country without corruption and for a new constitution, he declared before Congress, coming back to a campaign promise to change Peru s free market-friendly founding law.
Poor village school teacher Pedro Castillo becomes Peru s president
Thu, Jul 29, 2021
LIMA: Rural school teacher Pedro Castillo on Wednesday became Peru s first president with no ties to the elites that have governed the Andean country for decades.
The 51-year-old far-left trade unionist was largely unknown until he led a national strike four years ago that forced the then-government to agree to pay rise demands.
He was born to peasants in the tiny village of Puna in the historic Cajamarca region, where he worked as a teacher for 24 years.
He grew up helping his parents with farm work, and as a child, had to walk several miles to school.