Castillo gets breathing room in Peru. But for how long?

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo got the first big win of his term today, with cabinet head Guido Bellido and the rest of his ministers surviving a tough confirmation hearing in Congress. After a marathon sitting that extended for nearly two full days, the left-wing Mr. Bellido ended up with 73 yeas (six more than required) in a much-awaited vote of confidence.

The key to victory came in the shape of support from the centrist Acción Popular and Alianza para el Progreso blocs, which gave the cabinet 12 out of 16 and 13 out of 15 votes respectively, after playing their cards close to their chest all week. 

The result gives President Castillo a platform to govern after three years of massive political instability in Peru, beginning with the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018 and involving a manic period in 2020 during which Peru had three presidents in the space of a week, all amid the highest recorded Covid-19 mortality rate in the world. 

Pedro Castillo had his own challenging start, with his narrow win called into question by far-right runner-up Keiko Fujimori, who lodged unproven accusations of fraud. Peru’s stock market and currency plunged, and all of Mr. Castillo’s appointments were challenged due to their links to the country’s far-left — including that of Foreign Minister Héctor Béjar, who ended up resigning. 

Mr. Béjar’s replacement, the recently sworn-in Oscar Maúrtua — one of the few members of the cabinet with prior experience in government...