Caty Vásquez Asencios assumes the executive direction of the Pensión 65 program

The President of the Republic, Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi, appointed Caty Vásquez Asencios as Executive Director of the National Solidarity Assistance Program “Pensión 65”, attached to the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS). The decision is contained in Supreme Resolution No. 020-2026-MIDIS, dated in Lima on November 4, 2026, and published on Thursday, November 5, in the Official Gazette El Peruano (No. 19618), where the regulation is endorsed by Minister Maritza Ivonne Canales Martínez.

The resolution bears the signatures of the Head of State and the head of MIDIS, and its first article provides for the conclusion of the acting appointment held by Rossana Pilar Taquia Gutiérrez, who is thanked for the services rendered. The second article formalizes the appointment of Vásquez Asencios to lead the social program that provides economic subsidies to older adults in situations of poverty.

Two and a half months of acting appointment

The acting appointment that is now closing was established by Supreme Resolution No. 017-2026-MIDIS, dated August 25, 2026, through which Taquia Gutiérrez—then General Director of the General Directorate of Quality of Social Benefit Management of MIDIS—assumed the position of executive director in addition to her duties, “until a permanent holder is appointed.”

According to the regulation itself, that acting appointment occurred after the conclusion of the appointment of Giovanna María Díaz Revilla in the same position, established by Supreme Resolution No. 009-2026-MIDIS. The new resolution states that “it has been deemed convenient to conclude the aforementioned acting appointment and appoint the person who will occupy said position.”

• Position filled: Executive Directorate of the National Solidarity Assistance Program “Pensión 65”.
• Appointee: Caty Vásquez Asencios.
• Concluding acting appointment: Rossana Pilar Taquia Gutiérrez, since August 26, 2026.
• Document: Supreme Resolution No. 020-2026-MIDIS, published on November 5, 2026.

A program created by supreme decree

The program was created by Supreme Decree No. 081-2011-PCM, modified by Supreme Decree No. 004-2014-MIDIS, which placed it under the charge of MIDIS and established that it would have an executive director appointed by supreme resolution. MIDIS was, in turn, created by Law No. 29792.

According to the Operations Manual approved by Ministerial Resolution No. 273-2017-MIDIS, the Executive Directorate is “the highest executive and administrative authority” of the program, and its head exercises legal representation, in addition to authorizing actions and personnel hiring under the sectoral guidelines of MIDIS.

The designation is based on Law No. 29158, Organic Law of the Executive Branch, and Law No. 27594, which regulates the participation of the Executive Branch in the appointment and designation of public officials, in addition to the Integrated Text of the Regulations of Organization and Functions of the ministry, approved by Ministerial Resolution No. D000024-2026-MIDIS.

The immediate budgetary context

The appointment comes in a month of extraordinary payments for the program. Law No. 32744, which approved supplementary credits and was published on November 2, 2026, in an extraordinary edition, authorized MIDIS, through “Pensión 65”, to grant an additional subsidy of S/ 350.00 to user persons, delivered jointly with the regular subsidy for the November-December 2026 payment period.

This amount is non-seizable, non-inheritable, and not subject to the payment of arrears; its financing is charged to the resources authorized in the aforementioned law.

During their tenure as acting head, Taquia Gutiérrez signed executive director resolutions of the program, including No. D000100-2026-MIDIS/P65-DE, which designated Mirtha Emperatriz Salinas Bernal as advisor to the Executive Directorate, and No. D000110-2026-MIDIS/P65-DE, which appointed Caharin Alberto Caparó Jarufe as technical coordinator.

The designation of Vásquez Asencios defines the leadership of one of the social programs with the greatest territorial exposure of MIDIS, in a fiscal year in which the Executive has already committed an economic reinforcement for its users and in which the operational continuity of the payment depends on the Executive Directorate. For older adults in poverty and extreme poverty who receive the subsidy, the change of head implies a new person responsible for the authorization of expenses, procurement, and coordination with local and regional governments.

Source: Official Gazette El Peruano, No. 19618, November 5, 2026, Legal Norms section (Development and Social Inclusion), p. 14 (official reference: R.S. No. 020-2026-MIDIS).