José Pedro Castillo Terrones is a Peruvian teacher, rondero (member of a community watch), trade union leader and politician.
He was born in the town of Puña, district of Tacabamba, province of Chota in the Cajamarca region. He is the third of nine brothers, sons of Ireño Castillo Núñez and Mavila Terrones Guevara, both illiterate farmers.
He was a rondero during his youth and even became a national leader of the Organization of Peasant Patrols.
He studied to become a teacher, studying primary education at the Octavio Mata Contreras Higher Pedagogical Institute. He then graduated from César Vallejo University, where he also obtained a master’s degree in educational psychology.
Since 1995 he has worked as a primary school teacher at the Primary Educational Institution No. 10465, in Puña, Tacabamba. As a primary school teacher and president of the Fighting Committee of the regional bases of the Single Union of Education Workers of Peru – SUTEP, he became known nationally for being the main leader in the 2017 teachers’ strike.
He married Lilia Ulcida Paredes Navarro in 2000 also a teacher, his partner since adolescence, with whom he has two children: Arnol and Alondra, and an adopted one, Yenifer, who is Lilia’s younger sister.
He is the constitutional President of the Republic of Peru since July 28, 2022.
