Peru President Castillo to replace Cabinet, moderate PM

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said on Monday that he would replace Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez and shuffle his center-left Cabinet, setting the stage for him to nominate his third team of ministers after just six months in office. "As I have always announced in my speeches, the Cabinet is constantly being evaluated.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said on Monday that he would replace Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez and shuffle his center-left Cabinet, setting the stage for him to nominate his third team of ministers after just six months in office.

"As I have always announced in my speeches, the Cabinet is constantly being evaluated. For this reason, I have decided to renew it and form a new team," he said. It was not immediately clear if he would remove Finance Minister Pedro Francke, who is popular with markets and has maintained economic stability in the copper-rich country.

What Castillo's new Cabinet may look like remains a wild card. He swore in a far-left Cabinet in July, sending Peru's sol currency to record lows amid investor concern. But he moderated his stance in October when he nominated Vasquez, a moderate-left lawyer and former president of congress.

Castillo has not yet set a date for the new Cabinet to be sworn in. Vasquez has yet to publicly address the fact that she is leaving the post. Over the weekend, an ally of Vasquez - Interior Minister Avelino Guillen, who is in charge of the police - submitted his resignation.