MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Peruvian Foreign Minister back in office

Maurtúa was involved in the extradition of former President Alberto Fujimori from Chile to Peru

Peruvian former Foreign Minister Óscar Maúrtua has been appointed again for the job to replace Héctor Béjar, who resigned earlier this week after just 19 days in office.

Maúrtua, who had held the same position between 2005 and 2006 under President Alejandro Toledo, took his new oath of office Friday before President Pedro Castillo, following the untimely resignation of the 85-year-old Béjar.

The sociology scholar and former leftist guerrilla were on the brink of congressional censorship after stating that the first acts of terrorism in Peru had been carried out by the Navy.

The appointment of Maúrtua, 74, comes less than a week after the new Castillo government, harshly questioned by the opposition, has announced it would request a parliamentary vote of confidence, which is scheduled for August 26.

The choice of Maurtúa has drawn criticism from some parliamentarians, even from Castillo's Marxist ruling Peru Libre party.

“I hope it is a joke in bad taste,” wrote Congressman Guillermo Bermejo (PL) on Twitter, who assured that Maúrtua “cannot represent a left-wing government” because he is “a person aligned with the interventionist policy of the United States.”

Maurtúa has already headed the Foreign Ministry's Transfer Commission after Castillo's election. Throughout his career, he has served as a permanent representative before the Economic and Social Commission of the Asia Pacific, as Ambassador of Ecuador, Canada, Bolivia and Thailand, and Organization of American States (OAS) representative in Mexico, among positions.

In November 2005 and his capacity as Foreign Minister, he was involved in the extradition of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who had been detained in Chile following an international arrest warrant.