His childhood was spent in Huancavelica and later he traveled to Lima, doing his primary studies at the Inmaculado Corazón de María de Miraflores School and secondary studies at the Santa María Marianistas School.
After the death of his brother, he assumed the management of his assets until in 1973 his family's lands were expropriated by the military government during the implementation of the agrarian reform.
In an effort to reconcile with the opposition, President Alberto Fujimori, appointed Salas as Prime Minister.
According to Ideele Radio, the former prime minister was prosecuted for having signed an Emergency Decree that expanded the Ministry of Defense's specifications by 69 million soles to allegedly implement a military plan against the Colombian FARC, which was never carried out.
In 2014, the Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court determined that Carlos Boloña, Bergamino and Salas endorsed the delivery of US$15 million to Vladimiro Montesinos as "compensation" for his ten years of service in the Fujimori regime.