A Congress Dissolved in Peru: Causes and Consequences

Date: 

Monday, November 18, 2019, 6:30pm

Location: 

CGIS South, S020

Speaker: Salvador del Solar, former Minister of Culture (2016-2017) and former Prime Minister of Peru (2019)
Moderator: Steven Levitsky, Professor of Government

On the afternoon of Sept. 30, 2019, Peru's President Martin Vizcarra dissolved congress amid political controversy and broad popular support. The outcome of a long confrontation between the two branches of government has transformed the Peruvian political landscape, and the future looks uncertain. This event will feature a talk by a key actor in this process, ex Prime Minister of Peru Salvador del Solar. He will discuss the conditions that led to the dissolution of Congress, its consequences, and how the Peruvian situation fits into the current Latin American landscape, where democratic institutions are being challenged by popular discontent.

This talk will be held in Spanish.

Salvador del Solar is the former Minister of Culture (2016-2017) and former Prime Minister of Peru (2019). He holds a Master’s in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs of Syracuse University and was a fellow at DRCLAS in the 2018-19 academic year.

Steven Levitsky is a Professor of Government at Harvard University. He has published numerous articles and books on political parties, authoritarianism, and democratization, with a focus on Latin America. His most recent book with Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die, has been translated to twenty-two languages.

Presented in collaboration with the Weatherhead Center Research Cluster on Challenges to Democracy, HKS Peruvian Caucus, and Harvard University Association of Peruvian Students (HAPS)