Yehude Simon
Yehude Simon Munaro (born July 18, 1947) is a Peruvian politician (PHP) and former Prime Minister of Peru.
Yehude Simon | |
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Member of Congress | |
In office July 26, 2011 – July 26, 2016 | |
Second Vice President of Congress | |
In office July 26, 2011 – July 26, 2012 | |
President | Daniel Abugattás |
Preceded by | Alda Lazo |
Succeeded by | Juan Carlos Eguren |
Prime Minister of Peru | |
In office October 14, 2008 – July 11, 2009 | |
President | Alan García |
Preceded by | Jorge del Castillo |
Succeeded by | Javier Velásquez |
1st Governor of Lambayeque | |
In office January 1, 2003 – March 9, 2009 | |
Lieutenant | Nery Saldarriaga |
Preceded by | Office Created |
Succeeded by | Nery Saldarriaga |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
In office July 26, 1985 – July 26, 1990 | |
Constituency | Lambayeque |
Personal details | |
Born | Lima, Peru | July 18, 1947
Political party | Peruvian Humanist Party (2001–2017) Together for Peru (2017-present) |
Spouse(s) | Nancy Valcárcel |
Alma mater | Pedro Ruiz Gallo State University (BA) |
Early life and family
Born in Lima to a family of Jewish and Italian descent,[1] Simon's family moved to the city of Chiclayo to establish a shoe retail business. After completing his early education at the Colegio Manuel Pardo, he joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo, in the city of Lambayeque, where he later was a lecturer. He married Nancy Valcárcel, a Chiclayo painter with whom he had four children: Jessica, Yehude, Yusef and Yail, also he had nine grandchildren: David, Micaela, Joaquín, Nicole, Salvador, Belén, Rafaella, Santiago and Isabella.
Beginning in politics: 1980s
Yehuda Simon began his political activity in 1983, when he applied for the post of Mayor of prosperous Chiclayo by the party United Left, and was placed second. In 1985 he applied to the Chamber of Deputies by United Left, was elected MP for Lambayeque (1985-1990), integrating the Committees on Justice and Human Rights Congress.
In 1991, he founded the Free Patriotic Movement, who was accused of being the legal wing of the MRTA (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) rebel movement, famous for the 1996 Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima. On 5 April 1992, Simon was in Europe, participating in conferences. Upon learning of the breakdown of the constitutional President Alberto Fujimori he returned to Peru and decided to participate in the protest against the closure of the Congress of Peru.
Imprisonment
On June 11, 1992 he was arrested along with other leaders of Patria Libre, and accused of being a subversive. Later that year he was sentenced by the judiciary to 20 years of imprisonment for the crime of "glorification of terrorism." During his eight and a half years in prison, human rights organizations, Amnesty International, some media and some opposition Peruvian politicians demanded that the Fujimori regime pardon him.
Post-imprisonment: governor and Prime Minister
After being cleared of all charges, Simon served as governor of the prosperous Lambayeque Region.
Since July 2008 he has been the president of the moderate center-left Peruvian Humanist Party.
On October 14, 2008, Simon was sworn in as President of the Peruvian Minister Cabinet, a position akin to that of a Prime Minister.[2][3][4][5] President Alan García had appointed Simon, who is politically to the left of García, in an effort to mollify the country's poor and nationalists who are considered "hard-line leftists" by the right-wing Peruvian parties.[2] [3][4][5][6][6]
Resignation
In June 2009, Simon announced that he would resign as prime minister "in the coming weeks", following violence over the land rights of Amazon Indians.[7] He resigned on July 10, 2009 and was replaced on July 11, 2009 by Javier Velásquez Quesquén.
Simon went on to apologize to the indigenous people, acknowledging the government had not properly consulted with the Amazon Indians prior to passing ten controversial laws, designed to ease foreign companies in the exploration of the Amazon for oil, gas and lumber. Simon pledged to work to persuade the Peruvian congress to repeal these controversial laws. Peru's indigenous leaders had launched protest strikes and blockades in April 2009; resulting in 34 persons killed, including 23 policemen; in bloody clashes between the Amazon Indians and the Peruvian police.[8][9]
Congressman
In the general election, 2011 Simon was elected Congressman for Lambayeque on the list of the Alliance for the Great Change to which Simon's Humanist Party has integrated.
References
Article drawn primarily from Spanish-language Wikipedia entry of same name
- "Simon acepta ser nuevo jefe de gabinete". Con Nuestro Peru. 11 October 2008.
- "Peru's ailing President makes Jewish-Italian former radical PM". Haaretz. 20 October 2008.
- Peru's president appoints new PM BBC News, 12 October 2008
- "Peru's Garcia swears in new ministers amid scandal (update2)". Bloomberg. 20 October 2008.
- Peru: Prime Minister to Step Down, The New York Times, 16 June 2009
- Adams, Guy (17 June 2009). "Peru's premier quits after protests end in bloodshed". The Independent.
- http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/200961618223869749.html%7C access date 17 July 2009
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/17/yehude-simon-peru-resign%7C access date 17 July 2009
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Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Jorge del Castillo |
Prime Minister of Peru 2008–2009 |
Succeeded by Javier Velásquez |