Aníbal Torres Vásquez (born 28 December 1942) is a Peruvian lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as

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 February 2022 to November 2022. He was also Minister of Justice and Human Rights from July 2021 to February 2022 under the government of

Pedro Castillo José Pedro Castillo Terrones (; born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 until Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo, he ...

Career

Torres was born in Chota,

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...

. He was a lawyer and university professor at the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...

. He graduated as a lawyer in 1970 and as a doctor, in Law and Political Science, from the same university in 1987. He studied Civil and Commercial Law at the Universitá Degli Studi di Roma (1970–1971). He was director and dean of the Lima Bar Association, dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of San Marcos, President of the Board of Deans of the Peruvian Bar Associations, honorary president of the Peruvian Academy of Laws, member of the Patriotic Commission for the Defense of the Mar de Grau, the Peruvian Institute of Air Law, the Academy of Aeronautical History of Peru, honorary member of the bar associations of Loreto, Puno, Cusco, Cajamarca, and Apurímac. He is the author of various publications on civil law and administrative law.

Political career

2011 general election

At the

2011 Peruvian general election General elections were held in Peru on 10 April 2011 to elect the president, the vice presidents, 130 members of Congress and five members of the Andean Parliament. As no presidential candidate received a majority in the first round, a second r ...

, Torres unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the

Peruvian Congress The Congress of the Republic of Peru () is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be removed by Congress without cause, ...

with

Peru Wins Peru Wins (, GP) was a leftist electoral alliance in Peru formed for the 2011 general election. It was dominated by the Peruvian Nationalist Party and led by successful presidential candidate Ollanta Humala Tasso. Constituent parties *Peruvia ...

for the constituency of

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 ...

2021 general election

Torres supported Yonhy Lescano, Popular Action's presidential nominee in the first round of the

2021 Peruvian general election General elections were held in Peru on 11 April 2021. The presidential election, which determined the president and the vice presidents, required a run-off between the two top candidates, which was held on 6 June. The congressional elections de ...

. For the second round of the general election, Torres became the main legal advisor for

's presidential campaign. Castillo would ultimately win the election.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights

On 30 July 2021, Torres was appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights by

at the start of his presidential term.

Prime Minister of Peru (2022)

On 8 February 2022, Torres was sworn in as

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 ...

, succeeding the short-lived and disgraced

Héctor Valer Héctor Valer Pinto (born 4 February 1959) is a Peruvian politician who served as President of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Prime Minister of Peru from 1 February 2022 to 8 February 2022. Originally elected to the Peruvian Congress as ...

in the position. He became the fourth cabinet head in less than a year in the Castillo administration. On 22 April 2022, Torres stated to the IV Decentralized

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

that "some senior military members speak in the same direction to carry out the coup d'état" against Castillo. He also stated they were planning to place "the lady who lost the elections" in power, in a clear reference to

Keiko Fujimori Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi (, , Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; born 25 May 1975) is a Peruvian politician and business administrator. Fujimori is the eldest daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. From ...

and her loss in the 2021 general election. On 3 August 2022, Torres resigned as Prime Minister, claiming personal reasons. At the time, President Castillo was facing five separate criminal investigations. The resignation was rejected by President Castillo. On 24 November 2022, Torres resigned again. It was accepted and Minister of Culture

Betssy Chávez Betssy Betzabet Chávez Chino (born 3 June 1989) is a Peruvian attorney and politician, who served as prime minister of Peru from 26 November until 7 December 2022, when she resigned. She was Peru's seventh female prime minister. She's been a ...

was selected by President Castillo to replace him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Aníbal 1942 births Living people People from Cajamarca People from Chota province Prime ministers of Peru Independent politicians in Peru National University of San Marcos alumni Academic staff of the National University of San Marcos Sapienza University of Rome alumni