Alejandro Aguinaga

Alejandro Aurelio Aguinaga Recuenco (born 28 January 1950) is a Peruvian doctor and Fujimorist politician. He is a Congressman, representing the Lambayeque Region, as he was before between 2006 and 2016. He was also the Health Minister during the administration of Alberto Fujimori from 1999 to 2000.

Education and career After eight years of studies since 1966, Aguinaga graduated from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal in Lima with a medical degree, in 1975. From 1977 to 1979, he furthered his qualification at the National University of San Marcos, specializing in general and digestive system surgery. From 1981 to 1985, he attended a post-gradual training in gastrointestinal surgery at the Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France. From 1985 to 2006 he practiced at the Archbishop Loayza Hospital in Lima, starting as an assistant surgeon and later gaining promotion to general director. As a professor, he has lectured about surgery at the Cayetano Heredia University, the Universidad de San Martín de Porres, and the private University San Juan Bautista. Additionally, he became the personal doctor of then-president Alberto Fujimori.

Political career

Early political career During the Fujimori's administration, he held the post of deputy minister of health from 1994 to 1999 and eventually he became minister heading the same ministry from 1999 to 2000.

Congressman In the 2006 elections, Aguinaga was elected Congressman on the Fujimorist Alliance for the Future list as an invited candidate, representing the Lambayeque Region. In 2007, he assumed the presidency of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Congress of the Republic in which he served from 26 July 2007 to 26 July 2008. During 2008 and 2009, he was the First Vice President of the Congress under the leadership of Javier Velásquez. When Velasquez was appointed prime minister in July 2009, Aguinaga took over the interim Presidency of the Congress for a few days until 26 July when Congress elected Luis Alva Castro. During the Congressional leadership of César Zumaeta, Aguinaga was once again, the First Vice President of the Congress. In the 2011 elections, Aguinaga was re-elected for another five-year term, this time under the Force 2011 party of Fujimori's daughter Keiko. In 2021, Aguinaga is set to return to Congress, after a five-year absence.