Latin Grammy-winner named Peru's culture minister

[July 26, 2011]  LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Peru's president-elect has chosen acclaimed singer Susana Baca as culture minister.

Baca becomes the Andean nation's first black minister of government since independence from Spain in 1821.

Baca is the best-known voice of the rich musical and dance tradition of Afro-Peruvians, descendants of slaves brought in colonial times. The 67-year-old Baca won a Latin Grammy in 2002 for the album "Lamento Negro," which she'd recorded nearly two decades earlier in Cuba.

President-elect Ollanta Humala also named his education minister on Monday, the sociologist Patricia Salas.

They were the last of 18 announced Cabinet appointments.

Humala takes office on Thursday.

[Associated Press]

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