Peruvian Cabinet Revamped

LIMA, Peru —  President Alejandro Toledo swore in a new prime minister and several Cabinet members Friday in a bid to revive his sagging popularity and calm turbulent political waters one year into his administration.

Luis Solari, a key figure in Toledo’s Peru Possible Party, was named prime minister and chief of the Cabinet. He replaced Roberto Danino, whose management was said to have alienated some party leaders.

Javier Silva Ruete returned to the post he had held twice, replacing Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former World Bank official, as economy minister.

Toledo called the Cabinet overhaul “the first step in the relaunching of the democratic government that I preside over.”

Many Peruvians have clamored for the president to fulfill campaign promises of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and revitalizing the economy.

Toledo also swore in Allan Wagner as foreign minister, a post Wagner held during the 1985-90 government of Alan Garcia. He replaces Diego Garcia Sayan.

Wagner’s appointment was seen as a bid to reach out to Alan Garcia’s Aprista party, the leading opposition force in Congress.

The new Cabinet also includes Gerardo Ayzanoa as education minister and Javier Reategui as transportation minister. Eduardo Iriarte was appointed minister of production, and Ana Maria Romero took over as women’s minister.