The government announced on 2 February the appointment of Ricardo Labó as vice-minister for mining, replacing Guillermo Shinno. Labó holds a masters degree from the University of Dundee and a specialist qualification from the Colorado School of Mines in the United States. He has previously worked for Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) and was in charge of its La Granja project in Cajamarca. Shinno occupied the post of vice-minister under the Humala government, and it is believed that his removal forms part of a policy to get rid of senior officials connected with the previous administration.

According to Cooperacción, Labó’s appointment is yet another example of the ‘revolving door’ syndrome by which senior-level public officials are drafted in from the private sector, returning to the private sector at some later date, particularly so in the all-important Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). Their independence of the private interests they previously served is therefore suspect.