Leftist political novice to be sworn in as Peru's president

A leftist political novice who has promised to be a champion of his country’s poor is set to be sworn in as Peru’s president

LIMA, Peru -- Pedro Castillo, a leftist political novice who has promised to be a champion of his country’s poor, on Wednesday will be sworn in as Peru’s president. The rural teacher who has never held political office before will assume office less than two weeks after he was declared the winner of the June 6 runoff election. He will succeed President Francisco Sagasti, whom Congress appointed in November to lead the South American nation after weeks of political turmoil. Castillo, who up until days ago lived with his family in an adobe home deep in the Andes, will face a deeply divided Congress that will make it extremely challenging for him to fulfill his ill-defined campaign promises to aid the poor, who are now estimated to make up about a third of the country’s population. His political savviness will be immediately tested, and his ability to reach agreements could even determine if Congress allows him to finish his term. “The government of Pedro Castillo still maintains us with considerable uncertainty; we still do not have clear his main lines of policy,” said Claudia Navas, an analyst with the global firm Control Risks. “However, we foresee that possibly, due to the characteristics of the Peruvian political system and the current general political and economic situation of the country, Castillo will maintain a more pragmatic position than he announced during the campaign.”