Oscar Eduardo Valdés Dancuart (born 3 April 1949) is a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian businessman and politician who was

Prime Minister of Peru A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

from 11 December 2011 until 23 July 2012. A former military officer, he was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

by President

Ollanta Humala Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...

on 28 July 2011. Less than five months later, Prime Minister

Salomón Lerner Ghitis Salomón Lerner Ghitis, also known as Siomi Lerner (born 4 February 1946) is a Peruvian businessman and politician, who was the Prime Minister of Peru from 28 July to 10 December 2011 and leader of the political movement Citizens for Change (Cx ...

resigned and Valdés was appointed his successor on 11 December 2011. He was dismissed on 23 July 2012, after criticism on his handling of the Conga Mining project.

Background

Born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Valdés studied at the

Chorrillos Military School The Chorrillos Military School () is the institution in charge of the undergraduate education of officers of the Peruvian Army. Overview The school was opened in 1830 during the first government of Agustín Gamarra and was relocated to Chorri ...

from 1968 to 1972, and he entered the service of the

Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army (, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in s ...

as a second lieutenant of the artillery afterwards. From 1987 to 1988 he took course in command and staff at the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

. During the 1980s, he acted as an instructor at the Chorrillos military academy, where

was his student. Valdés retired from army service in January 1991 when he was lieutenant colonel, because he was shunted from promotion by intelligence chief

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...

. Following his resignation, Valdés engaged in the private sector, managing different businesses in his home region of

Tacna Tacna, officially known as San Pedro de Tacna, is a city in southern Peru and the regional capital of the Tacna Region. A very commercially active city, it is located only north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland f ...

. Valdés took a tough stance towards the protesters against the controversial Conga mining project and social conflicts in general. Ex-president

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...

, whose

Possible Peru Possible Peru () was a Peruvian political party. It was founded in 1994 by Alejandro Toledo with the original name of Possible Country (). History Possible Peru has its roots in an earlier political party, Possible Country, which was founded ...

party supported the Humala administration so far, expressed concerns about the "militarization" of the government. The confrontational stance towards the conflict finally led to Valdés' dismissal on 23 July 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdes, Oscar 1949 births Living people Chorrillos Military School alumni Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Peruvian Army officers Ministers of interior of Peru Prime ministers of Peru