Weekly Report - 30 July 2020 (WR-20-30)

Ahead of his final year in office, President Martín Vizcarra’s annual address to the nation on Peru’s independence day (28 July) was much-anticipated. Vizcarra did not shy away from acknowledging the scale of the challenges facing Peru: the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the associated economic emergency, and the political deadlock between his executive and congress that has compounded these crises. Solutions to these problems, however, were less forthcoming, with ambitious rhetoric on political dialogue and co-ordination taking precedence over more tangible proposals.