Left-wing political novice sworn in as Peru’s president

Pedro Castillo arrives to the Foreign Ministry before going to Congress for his swearing-in, on his Inauguration Day in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Pedro Castillo, a left-wing political novice who has promised to be a champion of his country’s poor, has been sworn in as Peru’s new president.

The rural teacher who has never held political office before was installed less than two weeks after he was declared the winner of the June 6 runoff election. He is Peru’s first president of peasant origin.