The new Prime Minister of the Government of Pedro Castillo, the congressman and member of Opus Dei Héctor Valer, appointed on Tuesday night, has generated a strong rejection in a few hours after the revelation in the Peruvian press that he assaulted his daughter and his wife , for whom a judge issued protection measures in 2017. Numerous statements by feminist groups and LGBTI people, congressmen and opinion leaders demand his immediate departure. Years ago, his neighbors declared him persona non grata in the building and collected signatures to expel him for his continuous yelling and threats.
“In circumstances in which she was at home, she was physically attacked by her father Héctor Valer Pinto (57) who slapped her, punched her, kicked her in the face and different parts of her body, pulled her hair. It is all that he manifests and denounces before the National Police of Peru for the purposes of the case, ”says a party at the district police station where Catherine Valer lived in October 2016, 29 years old when she filed the verbal complaint.
The following year, a judge issued several protection measures for Ana María Montoya, the wife of today’s premier, who was elected congressman last year by the far-right Popular Renovation party, but left that bench shortly after and in January moved to a third party. Among the measures ordered by the Ninth Family Court in favor of Montoya in February 2017, Valer was prohibited from “any conduct that constitutes violence and/or harassment, under penalty of being criminally charged for the crime of disobedience or resistance to authority.” , indicates a document published by the newspaper Trade. The court then also asked the police for “timely and effective protection” for the lawyer’s wife and to coordinate with the serenazgo (police of the district municipality) for “a timely response.” Montoya passed away last October.
In addition, a former neighbor of the family reported this Wednesday on the radio station radio programs that they heard the screams and aggressions in Valer’s house, and they organized for him to leave the place. “15 neighbors signed to evict him, for persona non grata. The whole neighborhood had us in anxiety and it scared us, because this is a quiet neighborhood,” said the citizen. The women’s rights organizations Flora Tristán and Manuela Ramos have condemned not only the appointment of Valer, but also that of Katy Ugarte as minister for women and vulnerable populations, a school teacher who ignores the rights of the LGTBI population. and questions gender equality in school education.
“Having Héctor Valer in the premiership, declared a member of Opus Dei and on whom there are complaints of violence against women, does not represent any guarantee to give continuity to public policies for the eradication of gender-based violence,” states a statement from the Manuela Ramos Movement, one of the two oldest feminist organizations in Peru. “We express our resounding rejection of the appointments of Héctor Valer and Katy Ugarte. Valer, in addition to having been denounced for violence against his wife and daughter in 2016, has had unfortunate sexist comments throughout these years and a position against the gender approach, a position that Katy Ugarte shares, “he said in another communicated the Flora Tristán Peruvian Women’s Center, the other Peruvian NGO of reference for women’s rights.
On Wednesday night, the prime minister’s office announced a press conference for Valer after the first session of the council of ministers, however, he did not appear. The new ministers of Interior, Defense and Culture appeared. A journalist asked if they dealt with the complaints of violence against Valer in the council of ministers, but the Minister of Defense, José Luis Gavidia, replied that they did not. “Personal issues are personal,” he declared.
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Former women’s ministers and political commentators also question Valer’s appointment. “He is unsustainable in his position, in moral and political terms,” said political analyst Juan Carlos Tafur on the television channel atvs. Political scientist Paula Távara also highlighted on the station radio programs that the new cabinet appointed by President Pedro Castillo on Tuesday represents a setback in several aspects, such as gender equality, the fight against corruption, and police and transportation reforms.
“Valer has a crime collar. Cases of violence against women in our country are crimes and must be punished, it also has complaints of corruption. Can that guy lead a cabinet?” the former women’s minister, Gloria Montenegro, questioned on Twitter.
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