Peru president appoints new cabinet

Peru's president -- mired in social conflicts and down in the polls -- tried to breathe new life into his year-old leadership by appointing a new cabinet, including a new cabinet chief. President Ollanta Humala on Monday named outgoing justice minister Juan Jimenez to the top slot. Jimenez, 48, a human rights lawyer, will lead the new team of 18 ministers -- which includes 13 from the previous cabinet. In a ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Lima, late Monday, Humala swore in the new officials and ratified the continuing ones. The reshuffle, which comes just days before Humala is set to mark his first anniversary in office on Saturday, had been widely expected. The first year of Humala's presidency was marked by 247 social conflicts that left 17 people dead, 2,300 people injured, and led him to declare a state of emergency three times, according to a Peruvian human rights organization. A poll published Sunday in the center-left newspaper La Republica showed that Humala's popularity had dropped to 36 percent in July, his lowest all year.Outgoing cabinet chief Oscar Valdes, a former soldier and a one-time interior minister, had been particularly controversial, due to his role leading a crackdown against demonstrators against a proposed mining project in northern Peru. The protesters say the $4.8 billion Conga gold mine project, in the Cajamarca region, will pollute lakes and rivers. Recent clashes between protesters and police left five people dead. This is the second time Humala -- Peru's first leftist leader in 36 years -- has shaken up his cabinet since taking office. In December, the 50-year-old president appointed Valdes to replace his first cabinet chief, millionaire businessman Salomon Lerner, who had been Humala's right-hand man on the campaign trail. Under Peruvian law, the resignation of the cabinet chief automatically triggers the resignation of other cabinet members. Aside from Jimenez, the new faces include Defense Minister Peter Cateriano Bellido, Agriculture Minister Milton Von Hesse, Justice Minister Eda Rivas, Interior Minister Wilfredo Pedraza Sierra and Health Minister Midori de Habich. The outgoing ministers of defense and the interior had submitted their resignations in May.