The Diplomat
Peru’s new ambassador to Spain, Óscar Maúrtua, took up his post last week, having presented the Copies of his Letters of Credence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday to the Ambassadors’ Introducer, María Sebastián de Erice.
Maúrtua, 75, a retired career diplomat, will fill the vacancy left nine months ago by the previous ambassador, Claudio de la Puente, who stepped down following Pedro Castillo’s victory in Peru’s presidential elections.
The new Peruvian ambassador was chosen by Castillo to take over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2021, replacing the 85-year-old sociologist and former guerrilla fighter, Héctor Béjar. Béjar had to step down just 19 days after being appointed, after claiming that the beginning of terrorism in the country was provoked by the navy.
Oscar Maúrtua was not at the helm of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry for long either, having been replaced in February of this year by César Landa, former president of the Constitutional Court.
Maúrtua entered the diplomatic service more than 50 years ago and was for the first time foreign minister of his country when Alejandro Toledo was president, in 2005 and 2006, and secretary general of the Presidency of the Republic in the second term of Fernando Belaúnde. In addition, among other things, he has been ambassador to Ecuador, Canada, Bolivia and Thailand, and representative of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Mexico.
