Castillo appoints former minister Óscar Maúrtua as Peru’s new foreign minister

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, appointed and swore in this Friday (20) the diplomat and former Foreign Minister Óscar Maúrtua as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Héctor Béjar, who resigned last Tuesday after only 19 days in office.

In a ceremony held at the Government Palace, Maúrtua swore before Castillo to return to lead the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, a position that the lawyer already held between 2005 and 2006 during the government of former President Alejandro Toledo.

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His swearing-in came three days after the sudden resignation of Béjar, the 85-year-old sociologist and former guerrilla fighter who left the government last Tuesday in the face of imminent censure by Congress after statements were leaked in which he affirmed that the beginning of terrorism in the country was provoked by the Navy.

The appointment of Maúrtua, 74, comes less than a week before the new government of Castillo, harshly questioned by the opposition, goes to Parliament to request a vote of confidence, scheduled for August 26.

Hours before the appointment of this diplomat as the new member of the ministerial cabinet was confirmed, his name sparked criticism from some parliamentarians, including from the ruling party, Peru Libre (PL).

“I hope it is a joke in bad taste”, wrote on Twitter the congressman Guillermo Bermejo (PL), who assured that Maúrtua “cannot represent a left-wing government” for being “a person aligned to the interference policy of the USA”.

LONG DIPLOMATIC CAREER

The new minister, who already headed the Foreign Ministry’s Transfer Commission, has more than 50 years in a diplomatic career.

Throughout his professional career, Maúrtua has served as a permanent representative to the Economic and Social Commission of the Asia Pacific, as Ambassador to Ecuador, Canada, Bolivia, and Thailand, and representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Mexico, among others.

In November 2005, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the extradition of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who had been detained in Chile following an international arrest warrant issued at the request of the Peruvian justice system.

BÉJAR’S RESIGNATION

Maúrtua’s appointment comes after the resignation of former minister Béjar, who had only been in office for 19 days.

His arrival to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry had stirred controversy from the beginning. Still, the criticism against him intensified last Sunday when some declarations were spread in which he affirmed that “terrorism in Peru was initiated by the Navy.”

“That can be demonstrated historically, and they have been trained for that by the CIA,” the sociologist maintained in a virtual chat with leftist sympathizers in February, when Castillo was still a largely unknown candidate and did not figure among the probable winners of the elections.

The dissemination of these statements was labeled manipulation by the Peruvian Foreign Ministry and an “affront” by the Navy. At the same time, the opposition anticipated a possible motion of censure against Béjar in Congress.