In a bid to boost his waning popularity in late July, President Humala embarked on his second cabinet reshuffle since assuming office.

The most high profile casualty was former army officer Oscar Valdés, who was replaced as prime minister by Juan Jiménez, a lawyer and constitutional expert. Other leading government figures, such as Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla and Mines and Energy Minister Jorge Merino, have retained their posts.

Valdés had faced criticism in recent months for his hard-line approach to social conflicts in Cajamarca and Espinar. Both areas had seen clashes between law enforcement officials and demonstrators, resulting in numerous injuries and several fatalities. The bungled handling of such crises caused Humala’s approval rating to drop to its lowest level since he assumed office a year ago.

The government heralded the reshuffle as evidence of its adoption of a less confrontational attitude to demonstrations. On his appointment the new prime minister affirmed his commitment to lead a “cabinet of dialogue” and to “move closer to the people”, particularly during times of social conflict.

Yet some doubt how much will change under the new cabinet. Critics note, for example, that Jiménez was among those who supported the decision to deal with protests in Cajamarca by declaring a state of emergency.

For disaffected groups, little reassurance was to be found in Humala’s annual congressional address, given just days after the reshuffle. One of the very few concrete pledges pertaining to social conflict was a commitment to include a ‘right to water’ clause in the Peruvian constitution (this has been one of the major points of contention in Cajamarca and elsewhere). Other relevant reforms, such as a commitment to update environmental legislation, were criticised by civil society groups for their lack of specific detail.