Peruvian deputy Ernesto Zunini, spokesperson for the Juntos por el Perú bloc, called on Economy and Finance Minister Elmer Cuba to prioritize eliminating tax privileges and collecting outstanding debts from large companies, rather than favoring military pensions over teachers' retirement benefits.
In a message posted on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, Zunini said Cuba now states he will pay what Zunini called "golden pensions" to members of the military while refusing to address teachers' retirement, because doing so would require raising the general sales tax, known as IGV, to 24%. Zunini told the minister not to apply what he called "the law of the funnel," urging him instead to start by eliminating tax privileges and collecting debts owed by large companies, saying that is where the money is. He said Cuba should stop governing for the privileged and start governing for the majority.
Cuba's remarks on Latina
Zunini's criticism followed an interview Cuba gave to the broadcaster Latina, in which the minister said pension guarantees were not under discussion. He said what is being debated is a law passed by Congress last year that guarantees pensions equal to 100% of a worker's last salary, a benefit he said exists nowhere else in the world. Cuba acknowledged that teachers receive low pensions and said the government would do what it could while defending the country's fiscal strength.
Other lawmakers criticize Cuba
Other members of Congress also criticized the Economy Ministry's recent announcements. Senator Mirtha Vásquez of Ahora Nación said the government's proposed two-stage increase to the minimum wage was not enough to cover the cost of the basic family food basket. She wrote on X that there were few details on measures to soften the economic impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon, particularly on the agriculture and fishing sectors.
Deputy Catherin Palomino called Cuba's leadership of the Economy Ministry "improvised." She said the ministry had promised to submit a bill delegating legislative powers by a deadline that has already passed, with nothing delivered, and had announced an unconditional minimum wage increase that turned out to be staggered instead. Palomino said raising wages by 100 soles and then 70 soles showed that Ms. Fujimori and her minister were living in a bubble, disconnected from reality, and called it outrageous how they were mocking the country's most vulnerable workers.
