University of Peru investigates complaint of plagiarism in the master’s thesis of President Castillo and his wife

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The César Vallejo University of Peru announced this Tuesday that it opened an investigation after a television program reported that President Pedro Castillo and his wife had plagiarized 54% of his master’s thesis.

“Given the facts reported in the media about the master’s thesis of Messrs. Pedro Castillo and Lilia Paredes, the University Council of the César Vallejo University, in its ordinary session on May 2, 2022, agreed to appoint a commission that evaluate the aforementioned research work,” the private institution said in a statement.

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On Sunday, the program “Panorama” of the Pan-American channel maintained that the thesis with which Castillo and his wife, both rural teachers, obtained a Master’s degree in Education, with a mention in Educational Psychology, had been analyzed with special software and found that it had “a plagiarism level of 54%”.

“54% of the text was copied from other authors without any mention of the source, the plagiarism is obvious and gross,” said the host of the program.

The thesis presented in 2011, of 121 pages, is entitled “Gender equity and significant learning in the area of ​​social personnel in the students of the IV cycle of the educational institution No. 10465 Puña, Tacabamba, Chota”, zone of the region northern Cajamarca where the presidential couple lived.

“The theoretical framework consists of 26 pages and all 26 were copied,” according to the program.

The Peruvian government has not commented on the denunciation of the television program.

The leftist president, 52 years old and in power for nine months, faces fierce opposition from leaders of the radical right, who have promoted two motions of “presidential vacancy” (impeachment) against him.

“Vacancy” motions have become customary in Peru and caused the fall of presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (right) in 2018 and Martín Vízcarra (center) in 2020, which keeps the country mired in instability.