LatinNews Daily - 11 September 2024

*The members of the executive board of Peru’s state oil company, Petroperú, have unanimously tendered their resignation, accusing President Dina Boluarte’s government of refusing to take difficult decisions regarding the company’s future. Petroperú’s board, headed by CEO Oliver Stark, had increasingly pushed the government to articulate its plan for the debt-ridden company, which it said should either be allowed to go bankrupt or be restructured and partially privatised. The company had previously argued that it would be “immoral” to continue receiving financial bailouts from the government. A statement announcing the board members’ resignation said that “the country does not want to continue seeing how scarce resources, which are needed to address enormous social inequalities, are being given to Petroperú without demanding a clear plan, accountability, and successful results”. Responding to the resignations, President Boluarte yesterday insisted that “we’re not going to privatise Petroperú,” which she said was “the country’s only strategic company”. Boluarte said that Petroperú’s problems “did not begin yesterday, but years ago,” blaming “corruption, inefficiency, and incapacity”. She said that “our government is saying that Petroperú needs to recover what it once was”.