Héctor Valer Pinto (born 4 February 1959) is a Peruvian 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 1 February 2022 to 8 February 2022. Originally elected to 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, ...

as a invited candidate of the Popular Renewal party, Valer was subsequently expelled from the elected caucus for supporting

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 ...

in the aftermath of the second 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 ...

. After a brief stint in the We Are Peru – Purple Party caucus, Valer currently sits with the Democratic Peru caucus, composed primarily of former

Free Peru Free Peru (), officially the Free Peru National Political Party (), is a Marxist political party in Peru. Founded in 2008 as the Free Peru Political Regional Movement, the party was officially constituted as a national organization in February 2 ...

lawmakers. Valer was appointed prime minister by President

on 1 February 2022, following the resignation of

Mirtha Vásquez Mirtha Esther Vásquez Chuquilín (born 31 March 1975) is a Peruvian attorney and politician who served as prime minister of Peru from 6 October 2021 to 31 January 2022. Previously, she briefly served in Congress for the complementary term betw ...

. Following his designation as

by President

, it was revealed that his daughter and his wife had denounced him for physical abuse in 2016. On 5 February 2022, before the confidence vote requested for that day was even scheduled by congress, Valer announced that he would resign from his position and denied the accusations, saying that the right-wing elements of Peru were responsible for the reports. When discussing in Congress about those killed in the

Juliaca massacre The Juliaca massacre occurred on January 9, 2023, in the city of Juliaca, located in Peru’s Puno Department, amid widespread protests against President Dina Boluarte's government. The event marked one of the deadliest confrontations during the ...

during the 2022–2023 Peruvian protests, Valer issued a

terruqueo The ''terruqueo'' is a negative campaigning and often racist method of fearmongering used in Peru that involves describing anti-Fujimorists, left-wing political opponents and those who are against the neoliberal ''status quo'' as terrorists or te ...

attack by placing an image of a

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

near the images of the victims, stating that the dead held "the attitude of those who use the masses and who militate in the

Shining Path The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...

, who continue to have a communist ideology".

Political positions

Valer initially began his political career within a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

party, and he holds ultra-

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

positions according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. He was in opposition of

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

and has been observed using

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

language.

References

Prime ministers of Peru 1959 births Living people {{Peru-politician-stub