Peru: Who's Who in Keiko Fujimori's Cabinet?

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A politically active figure for over 35 years, 55-year-old ex-congressman Luis “Lucho” Galarreta takes on his most high-profile role yet: coordinating the work of Fujimori’s cabinet. Galarreta is also Fujimori’s first vice-president, making him first in line for the presidency should she be temporarily or permanently removed from the top spot.

“I see in Lucho a loyal and hardworking man, deeply committed to Peru,” said Fujimori while announcing Galarreta as her prime minister. Despite his prior criticisms of corruption within fujimorismo, Galarreta joined Fujimori’s Popular Force party in 2016 and made his way into the inner circle of the now-president. At the June 27 press conference, he outlined the government’s priorities of reducing insecurity, attracting investment, and creating jobs as part of a “second-generation reform delayed for more than 20 years.”

Galarreta’s earlier political trajectory involved multiple parties on Peru’s right. In 1989, he joined the Freedom Movement, the short-lived electoral vehicle of Nobel Prize-awarded author Mario Vargas Llosa. He earned his first elected position in 2003 as a municipal councilor in Lima under National Renewal, a now-defunct Christian Democratic party. His 14-year stint representing Lima in the national Congress began in 2006 and included a switch to the Christian People’s Party in 2010. As a congressman, he was a ranking member on several legislative commissions and headed commissions on ethics and finance. From 2017 to 2018, he served as president of Congress, becoming the first to do so with a physical disability. (Both of Galarreta’s hands were amputated at three months old and he uses prosthetics.)

During his time leading the legislature, he oversaw the two impeachment votes that preceded the resignation of then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016–2018). Galarreta also presided over the suspension of three congressmembers, including Fujimori’s younger brother, Kenji, for attempted vote-buying to keep Kuczynski in power.

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Economist Elmer Cuba, who served as a Central Bank director from 2016 to 2021, will lead the economy and finance ministry. At the June 27 press conference, Cuba defined goals to maintain Peru’s macroeconomic stability and ensure that all Peruvians benefit from the country’s economic growth in “the form of better jobs, salaries, and public services.” Other priorities, he said, would involve “closing the infrastructure gap” and cracking down on tax evasion.

An immediate challenge for Cuba will be preparing Peru’s finances for the impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon. This season’s El Niño is expected to produce severe flooding and increased heat that will damage infrastructure, as well as fishing and agricultural harvests, potentially generating losses equivalent to more than 1 percent of GDP, per forecasts from a major Peruvian investment company.

Apart from serving as Fujimori’s economic advisor during her 2016 presidential campaign, Cuba has had limited involvement in electoral politics and instead has experience working in global finance organizations. He was most recently a partner at a private consulting firm but previously worked with various multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, CAF – the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and International Labor Organization.

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Fujimori’s pick to lead the foreign ministry has already racked up years of experience in diplomacy. From 2008 to 2023, Carlos Espá served as communications director in the press and culture department of the U.S. Embassy in Lima. Among his priority aims, he said, is to “put the state at the service of Peruvians” both in and outside of the country.

Just months ago, however, Espá had hopes of doing that as Peru’s president. He competed against Fujimori in this year’s presidential election under the banner of his own Yes, I Believe party. As a presidential candidate, his platform centered on tackling corruption in Congress, taking a hardline approach to crime, and reducing taxes. He finished ninth in the first round, earning 3.4 percent of valid votes.

One of Espá’s early tasks as foreign minister will be to repair relations with Mexico, a reconciliation both Fujimori and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have signaled they would like to see happen. Diplomatic relations between the two countries ruptured in November 2025 after years of tension. In 2022, Mexico’s government labeled the impeachment of ex-President Pedro Castillo (2021–2022) a conservative “coup” and then gave Castillo’s Prime Minister Betssy Chávez asylum through its embassy in Lima. When asked if Peru’s new administration would offer Chávez safe passage out of the Embassy, Espá said they “believe in the rule of law” and that the cabinet would discuss the issue.

Like Galarreta, 65-year-old Espá was associated with Vargas Llosa’s Freedom Movement but most of his early professional career was spent commenting on politics as a TV journalist and print columnist.