Betssy Betzabet Chávez Chino (born 3 June 1989) is a Peruvian attorney and politician, who served as prime minister of Peru from 26 November until 7 December 2022, when she resigned. She was Peru's seventh female prime minister. She's been a member of congress since July 2021 and served as Minister of Culture from August 2022 to November 2022.[1] She previously was Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, from October 2021 until May 2022, when a censure measure was approved against her.[2][3] She later held the position of Minister of Culture, before being appointed prime minister.[4]
Chávez was the fifth Prime Minister to be appointed by President Pedro Castillo. Her appointment was seen by political observers as evidence of ongoing political instability.[5] She announced her resignation on 7 December.[6]
Chávez worked as a lawyer in the Regional Government of Tacna (2020), a technician and assistant in the Congress of the Republic (2017–2020) and head of practices at the Jorge Basadre Grohmann University School of Law.[9]
Political career
Chávez said that her interest in politics arose from her father's work as a social leader for families that settled in the northern cone of Tacna.[citation needed]
She was elected congresswoman in the 2021 parliamentary elections with 8,472 votes; she represented Tacna, for the Free Peru party. She took her oath as congresswoman on 27 July that year. She is also part of the Democratic Peru parliamentary group.[10]
On 6 October 2021 she was appointed and sworn in by President Pedro Castillo, as Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion of Peru.[3]
In April 2022, various media outlets denounced that the minister had authorized a strike by air traffic controllers, which caused the cancellation of internal and international flights on the occasion of Holy Week. After that, she was questioned by the Congress of the Republic of Peru on 13 May. On the 19th of that month, in Congress, various congressmen presented a motion of censure against Minister Chávez. The following 26, Congress approved the censorship with 71 votes in favor due to her inability to manage and negligence in her performance.[11]
Culture
On August 5 of the same year, she was appointed and inaugurated by President Castillo, as Minister of Culture of Peru. In statements to the press, the new minister mentioned that having been censured as Minister of Labor does not prevent her from assuming the portfolio of Culture. Minister Diana Miloslavich said at the time: "Her censorship does not mean that she does not do an excellent job", and Minister Alejandro Salas stated: "She is a great professional... and, if at any moment (the president) considers that she should be premier". She held that position until the following November 25, being replaced by Silvana Robles Araujo.[12]
President of the Council of Ministers
On 25 November 2022 she was appointed and sworn in by President Pedro Castillo as President of the Council of Ministers of Peru; after the acceptance of the resignation of Prime Minister Aníbal Torres.[2] On 7 December 2022 she resigned from office. On 20 June 2023 the Peruvian National Police arrested her for alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy against the state. The Supreme Court ordered her to be detained for 18 months. The charges against Chávez stem from ousted former President Pedro Castillo's attempt to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in December 2022 in the face of a coordinated right-wing attack.[13]
Chávez, then Minister of Culture, through her TikTok account, described the Peruvian Attorney General Patricia Benavides as a "coup plotter" and referred to her as "Blanca Nélida Colán 2.0", a reference to a prosecutor aligned with Fujimorism who failed to prosecute Vladimiro Montesinos.[14] This compounded problems after the initiation of a preliminary investigation against her, related to the favoring of her relatives in public office.[15]
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