It was an inauguration like no other in Peru’s recent history. Pedro Castillo, the new left-wing president, took office on July 28th following the narrowest of electoral victories in a bitterly divided country. But he delayed naming his cabinet until the following days, leaving Peru temporarily without a government. His inaugural speech was generally moderate in tone, promising “responsible change” in the economy and more money for health care and education. But he insisted that he will seek to install a constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution—the device used by left-wing populist strongmen such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia to concentrate power and hang on to it. For his inauguration he wore a collarless indigo jacket, seemingly copied from Mr Morales, as well as his trademark hat of cream-coloured palm fibre.
Mr Castillo’s inauguration took place on the 200th anniversary of Peru’s independence from Spanish colonial rule. In a populist gesture, he said he would not govern from the presidential palace, built on the site of the house of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador of Peru. Instead, his office will be in Lima’s convention centre. A farmer, schoolteacher and union leader from Peru’s northern Andes, Mr Castillo is for some a symbol of those often ignored in the country’s political life.