LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian President Ollanta Humala was set to swear in a new Cabinet later on Sunday in a shake-up that could lead to harsher crackdowns on social protests but leave the country’s free-market economic model in place.
Humala, who was a professional soldier before becoming a politician, said on Saturday that Oscar Valdes, a former army officer who was his instructor in the military, would be prime minister.
He will replace Salomon Lerner, a businessman who was the most powerful centrist in the government. He helped Humala shed his left-wing image to win election in June and forge ties with investors, and led efforts to solve social disputes through dialogue during his short five-month tenure.
Critics said the promotion of Valdes, who had been interior minister, meant the government would be less willing to negotiate with rural communities opposed to billions of dollars in new mining and oil projects and quicker to call in the army and police to break up a growing number of protests.
«We don’t support the militarization of the government of Humala, which was democratically elected,» former President Alejandro Toledo told reporters.
Toledo said his Peru Posible party would distance itself from the ruling party, Gana Peru, but still vote with it in Congress. Peru Posible had held two ministerial posts, defense and labor, but chose not to participate in the Cabinet after the shuffle.
«We don’t have any faith in Valdes,» said Gregorio Santos, the governor of the region of Cajamarca, who has opposed a $4.8 billion gold mine proposed by U.S.-based Newmont Mining. «He isn’t interested in dialogue at a time when the government is going to face social conflicts,» he told the newspaper El Comercio.
Humala declared a state of emergency last week to quash roadblocks against Conga, the first sign of his willingness to use authoritarian tactics since he took office in July.
More than 200 disputes nationwide have threatened to delay $50 billion in planned mining and oil projects that Humala says would fuel economic growth for years. But the projects often anger rural communities worried about pollution, losing control of scarce water supplies, or getting their share of lucrative mining profits.
Humala was expected to replace 10 of his 19 ministers in a formal swearing-in ceremony, but Valdes has said Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla, who is well-regarded by Wall Street for his management of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, would be reappointed.
Trade Minister Jose Luis Silva, who has pushed an ambitious free-trade agenda for the Andean country, is also expected to stay in his post.
Jorge Humberto Merino, an engineer who worked for years for the government agency that promotes foreign investment, would be his new mines and energy minister, local media reported.
He would replace Carlos Herrera, who had appeared to tussle with the ministers of environment and culture over how to handle the dispute over Newmont’s proposed Conga mine, which would be the biggest mining investment in Peruvian history.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino, Patricia Velez and Terry Wade)