Pedro Cateriano
Pedro Álvaro Cateriano Bellido is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Peru since July 2020, under Martín Vizcarra's administration. He previously served as Ollanta Humala's Minister of Defense from July 2012 to April 2015, and Prime Minister from April 2015 to July 2016.
Born in the capital city of Lima in 1958, Cateriano pursued a law degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, specializing in constitutional law. During his brief term in the Peruvian Congress between 1990 and 1992, Cateriano attained a prominent role as a ranking member of the congressional investigative committee on Alan García's first administration. Alongside Lourdes Flores and Fernando Olivera, the committee was ultimately disbanded following García's acquittal by the Supreme Court in March 1992. Cateriano published in the following years a detailed work on the investigation.
After a failed run for the Peruvian Congress, Cateriano worked extensively in opposition to Alberto Fujimori's presidency, ultimately being appointed to the Constitutional Reform Advisory Body of the Ministry of Justice in the presidency of Valentín Paniagua. Subsequently, he was appointed under Alejandro Toledo's presidency as Deputy Minister of Justice, serving until his resignation in June 2002, alongside minister and former colleague, Fernando Olivera.
During the presidency of Ollanta Humala, Cateriano served as Minister of Defense from July 2012 to April 2015. In his almost three-year tenure, he remained a controversial member of Humala's administration, constantly clashing with the opposition regarding the government's modus operandi, in which First Lady Nadine Heredia seemingly interfered with government decisions. He also faced criticism for his support of pecuniary sanctions on voluntary military service enrollment, which the Constitutional Court declared the measure unconstitutional. Upon the resignation of Ana Jara on 2 April 2015, due to her censorship by the Peruvian Congress regarding illegal government espionage under her management as Prime Minister of Peru, Cateriano was appointed as her successor. Seemed by pundits as a government loyalist, he served through the end of Humala's presidency.
Cateriano was sworn as Prime Minister of Peru on 15 July 2020, succeeding Vicente Zeballos as the government faces strong criticism due to Vizcarra's management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.
Early life and education
Cateriano was born in Lima on 26 June 1958. His father was Pedro Cateriano Delgado, from Arequipa, and Clara Bellido Delgado, and his great-uncle, Army colonel Andrés Neptali Cateriano y Alcalá, served as Minister of War and Navy during the government of José Pardo y Barreda.Upon finishing his high school education at the Colegio de la Inmaculada, from which he graduated in 1975, Cateriano entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where he studied law. He also has doctoral studies at the Ortega y Gasset University Research Institute, attached to the Complutense University of Madrid, specializing in constitutional law. His professional experience covers legal, pedagogical, business and political areas.
Career
Cateriano entered the political scene as he was slated for a seat in the Peruvian Congress for Lima with the Liberty Movement, the only political party in which he has been registered, led by Mario Vargas Llosa, serving from 1990 to 1992, which was dissolved by President Alberto Fujimori. During his parliamentary tenure, Cateriano was a member of the Constitution and Foreign Relations committees, and the Permanent Assembly of Congress. He gained prominence as member of the Investigative Committee of the First presidency of Alan García, alongside Lourdes Flores and Fernando Olivera. In his published work The García Case, Cateriano details said investigation, the same that motivated Congress to accuse García of illicit enrichment, but which the former president was initially declared innocent by the Supreme Court in 1992, and when reopened they were never resolved judicially, until they finally prescribed.Following the dissolution of Congress in 1992, Cateriano was invited by Fernando Olivera to regain his seat in the new unicameral body at the 1995 general election, but was not elected, attaining a low share of votes nationally.
Upon the inauguration of Valentín Paniagua as President of Peru in November 2000 following the downfall of Alberto Fujimori, Cateriano was appointed to the Advisory Commission of the Ministry of Justice for Constitutional Reform. Simultaneously, he represented Peru before the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.
In July 2001, Cateriano was appointed as Deputy Minister of Justice by President Alejandro Toledo. He served in the ministry under the management of Fernando Olivera until June 2002.
After ten years dedicated extensively to the private sector between 2002 and 2012, Cateriano was appointed agent of the Peruvian State before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in February 2012, for the Chavín de Huántar case, defending the government's version that there were no executions during the release of the hostages from the residence of the Japanese ambassador in 1997.
Minister of Defense
Cateriano was appointed Minister of Defense on 23 July 2012, under cabinet led by Juan Jiménez Mayor, succeeding congressman José Antonio Urquizo in the position. At the start of his tenure, Cateriano declared his interest in promoting of voluntary military service, although the Constitutional Court declared that the draw for military service was not unconstitutional.Controversies
On 14 July 2013, a Peruvian journalistic program revealed a telephone recording in which Cateriano tells an interlocutor that First Lady Nadine Heredia, gave him the "green light" to make some purchases for the Defense sector through the United Nations Development Programme. The dialogue revealed to the local press an alleged interference of Ollanta Humala's wife in government decisions; however, Cateriano argued that Heredia only "transmits the president's messages". An expert report from the National Police of Peru stated that the audio is inaudible in various parts and would have been edited. The Prosecutor's Office twice closed the investigations into an alleged arms purchase. The United Nations Development Programme ultimately ratified Cateriano's version.In December 2012, the Executive Branch issued Legislative Decree 1146, which modified the Military Service Law, and established in its article 50 that "those chosen by lottery are required to appear within the indicated period" for the selection process; that those who are selected are obliged to appear within the indicated period to join the quartered service and that the draws with serious and permanent physical or mental disabilities, those deprived of their liberty, those who prove to be responsible for the maintenance of the home, the university students, who prove they are providing some voluntary service to the community and residents abroad. The Constitutional Court later ruled that the draw was not contrary to the Constitution. This within the framework of the powers granted by the Legislative to the Executive to legislate in matters of Defense and Interior.
In this regard, members of the opposition harshly questioned the aforementioned decree for discriminating against the poorest and for making the Military Service "mandatory" for those who cannot pay this amount. Congress debated that said provision promoted by Cateriano was illegal, since being a voluntary service, a pecuniary sanction cannot be imposed on those do not wish to do so.