Salvador del Solar
Salvador del Solar
01.05.1970 (54 gadi)
Salvador Alejandro Jorge del Solar Labarthe (Spanish pronunciation: [salβaˈðoɾ ðel soˈlaɾ]; born 1 May 1970) is a Peruvian actor, director and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Peru from March to September 2019, in President Martín Vizcarra's administration. Born in Lima, from a very young age he showed passion for acting. At first, he pursued a career in law, graduating from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in 1994. After working one-year as a lawyer, he decided to pursue a career in acting. Enrolled in Alberto Ísola's workshop, he starred in a variety of national classical theatre productions. Subsequently, he starred in three television series' directed by Luis Llosa. He gained international fame in 2000 for his portrayal of "Captain Pantaleón Pantoja" in Captain Pantoja and the Special Services film adaptation of Mario Vargas Llosa's classical novel, directed by Francisco J. Lombardi. The film was selected as Peru's 72nd Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film Award submission, but was not nominated. Del Solar took a brief hiatus of acting as he travelled to New York to pursue a master's degree in international relations at Syracuse University. Upon finishing his graduate studies, he acted in a variety of television productions, and ultimately relocated to Colombia and Mexico. Among other works, he starred in The Missing Elephant in 2013, and debuted as film director with Magallanes in 2014. After years dedicated to cultural promotion in his country, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski appointed him Minister of Culture in a cabinet reshuffle on 5 December 2016, switching the previous Minister of Culture to Defense. In his one-year tenure as minister, he took a prominent role in promoting Peruvian cinema, and relaunching renowned museums throughout the country. He tendered his resignation on 27 December 2017, alongside other cabinet ministers in protest of president Kuczynski's pardon of former President Alberto Fujimori, imprisoned for murder and aggravated kidnapping.Upon César Villanueva's resignation as Prime Minister of Peru, Del Solar was appointed by president Martín Vizcarra as Villanueva's successor, on 11 March 2019. As tension arose between the executive branch and the Fujimorist dominated Peruvian Congress in the months of his premiership, Del Solar and Vizcarra worked towards finding a solution to the ongoing political crisis. The situation escalated when Congress convened a new election of the Constitutional Court magistrates, prompting Del Solar to appear before Congress asking for a vote of confidence to modify the magistrate's election rules for institutional preservation. The majority of Congress ignored his presentation, and proceeded to elect the new magistrates. President Vizcarra interpreted the election as factual denial of confidence, ultimately dissolving Congress by constitutional decree on 30 September 2019. Due to the denial of confidence against the cabinet, Del Solar tendered his resignation on the same day. He was succeeded by Vicente Zeballos.Del Solar is the first Peruvian politician to be heavily involved in the film industry and acting as a career. He is also the youngest prime minister of Peru, and the first one to be born after the multiple coups in Peru in the mid-20th century. He is viewed by pundits as potential presidential hopeful for the next general election cycles due to his positive experience as Prime Minister during the escalation of the 2017–2021 Peruvian political crisis but on 31 July 2020, he announced that he will not run for President.