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Peruvian congressman sworn in as education minister for 22-day term
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Peruvian congressman sworn in as education minister for 22-day term

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • Jorge Marticorena Mendoza was sworn in as Peru's minister of Education on Monday for a 22-day term.
  • Marticorena replaces María Cuadros, who resigned amid accusations of irregularities in appointing officials.
  • The interim government's term ends July 28, when the president-elect will take office.

Jorge Marticorena Mendoza began his brief tenure as Peru's minister of Education on Monday, taking the oath of office for a term that will last only 22 days. His appointment comes after the resignation of his predecessor, María Cuadros, who stepped down following accusations of irregularities in the appointment of sector officials.

We had an appointment that day at 4:00 in the afternoon and she never showed up.

— Building managerThe building manager for the apartment complex where Yu Ting was scheduled to open a unit described her no-show.

Marticorena, a congressman from the Ica region elected in 2021 with the Marxist party Perú Libre, will serve until July 28. This date marks the end of the interim government led by President José María Balcázar, who will hand over the presidency to the elected leader, Keiko Fujimori, for the 2026-2031 term.

Cuadros, who served for four months, defended her work in a resignation letter, stating she assumed the post with "integrity, dedication and strict respect for the public interest." She highlighted her contributions to strengthening educational policies. However, a group of congressmen had presented a motion to interpelate her, citing alleged irregularities and illegalities during her tenure, including the "arbitrary" removal of the superintendent of the National Superintendency of University Education (Sunedu), Vicente Paúl Espinoza. Legislators described this as "flagrant and undue interference by the Executive Branch" aimed at destabilizing Sunedu's institutional management and threatening the progress of university reform.

We believe we are either facing a kidnapping or now we are talking about homicide.

— Gerasimos KourkouklisGerasimos Kourkouklis, head of the 'Life Line' organization, commented on the mysterious disappearance of the Chinese translator.

Marticorena, a dental surgeon by profession, has experience in evaluating university careers and improving educational quality. His political career includes a shift from Perú Libre to the conservative Alianza para el Progreso party in 2024.

I categorically rule out the scenario that she left on her own. The other scenarios are a possible kidnapping without financial motive or a murder for a reason I cannot determine at this moment.

— Yu Ting's husbandYu Ting's husband expressed his certainty that his wife did not leave voluntarily and outlined possible scenarios.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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