Peru's defense minister named PM in Cabinet shuffle after protests

FILE PHOTO: Peru's President Dina Boluarte, who took office after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was ousted, salutes next to Alberto Otarola, Minister of Defence, in Lima, Peru December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

LIMA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Peru's President Dina Boluarte promoted the country's defense chief to the prime minister's job as part of a shuffle of her 11-day-old Cabinet on Wednesday, a move that followed protests this month that have left roughly two dozen people dead.

Alberto Otarola, a lawyer who had been the Andean nation's defense minister, was named prime minister, and four others entered the Cabinet. Alex Contreras and Oscar Vera were kept as the ministers of the economy and energy and mines, respectively.