Peru’s prime minister resigns amid widening government crisis

BOGOTA, Colombia

Peru’s prime minister resigned Wednesday, paving the way for a Cabinet reshuffle at a time when the government is going through its worst crisis.

Anibal Torres said he was stepping down for “personal reasons.”

“I am withdrawing from office after having served our homeland and its most neglected and its forgotten people, together with you,” Torres said in a letter addressed to President Pedro Castillo. “Today I have to return to the university classrooms with my students and take up what I missed the most: legal research.”

Torres, who was Castillo's most loyal official, stepped in as head of the Peruvian government at the beginning of February after having served as justice minister. He was the nation's fourth prime minister since Castillo took office in July last year.

Torres departs at a time when polls show the president’s popularity falling to new lows and with the government showing signs of instability.

Castillo has gone through two unsuccessful impeachment proceedings and has made more than 50 changes to his Cabinet. He is currently the target of five criminal investigations, two of which are probing whether he is part of a “criminal organization.”

He has been under attack for the past year by the opposition-led Congress, which has called on him to resign or consider proposing early elections.

Castillo took office in July 2021 after beating right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori by only 44,000 votes, but he has seen his popularity crash amid corruption allegations.

The South American country has had five presidents since 2016. Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned during his impeachment process in 2018 and Martin Vizcarra was removed by Congress in 2020. His departure led to Peru having three presidents in less than one week.

BOGOTA, Colombia

Peru’s prime minister resigned Wednesday, paving the way for a Cabinet reshuffle at a time when the government is going through its worst crisis.

Anibal Torres said he was stepping down for “personal reasons.”

Torres departs at a time when polls show the president’s popularity falling to new lows and with the government showing signs of instability.

He has been under attack for the past year by the opposition-led Congress, which has called on him to resign or consider proposing early elections.

Castillo took office in July 2021 after beating right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori by only 44,000 votes, but he has seen his popularity crash amid corruption allegations.