Vicente Zeballos

On September 23, a few days before the election of the magistrates of the Constitutional Court, which was scheduled to take place on the 30th of that month, Zeballos indicated that it should be suspended after the broadcast of an audio in which parliamentarians Popular Force and APRA talked about the issue.

The minister denied having lied to the Justice Committee about the hitman's escape, and denied alleged rumors of wanting to divert attention from the criminal's escape.

To his presentation, Zeballos also added the existence of responsibilities of both the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) and the Judiciary.

Vicente Antonio Zeballos Salinas (born 10 May 1963) is a Peruvian politician who served as Prime Minister of Peru from September 2019 to July 2020, under President Martín Vizcarra's administration.

Prior, he served as Minister of Justice and Human Rights.

Vicente Antonio Zeballos Salinas was born on May 10, 1963, in Tacna, Peru, but was raised in the city of Moquegua.

He completed his high school education at the Simón Bolivar School of Moquegua.

He enrolled in the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University, where he studied law and political science, attaining a law degree.

He specialized in constitutional law at the Center for Constitutional Studies in Madrid, Spain.

He pursued a PhD in constitutional law at the Complutense University of Madrid, but did not complete the degree.

He has dedicated himself to university teaching at the Private University of Tacna.

Zeballos started his political career by running for a seat in the Peruvian Congress in the 2001 elections with the Union for Peru party representing the Moquegua constituency.

Although not elected, he gained prominence in his region, gaining the mayorship of the Mariscal Nieto Province in 2002.

Born in the southern region of Tacna, Zeballos began his political career as mayor of Mariscal Nieto Province in Moquegua, from 2003 to 2006.

He ran for reelection in 2006 and 2010, but was not re-elected.

In late 2010, former mayor Luis Castañeda of Lima started his full-scale presidential campaign for the 2011 elections.

Recruiting regional leaders around the country, Zeballos was selected to run for Congress in the National Solidarity Alliance, which grouped Union for Peru in coalition with the National Solidarity Party, Always Together and Cambio 90.

Subsequently, in 2011, he was elected to Congress in for the National Solidarity Alliance, representing Moquegua and the only congressman from Union for Peru.

The alliance would attain 9 seats in Congress, with Zeballos elected representing Moquegua for the 2011–2016 term, and as the only Congressman from the Union for Peru.

As a legislator, he was part of the Education, Youth and Sports Commissions; Constitution and Regulations; Decentralization and Foreign Relations.

Likewise, he was president of the Audit Commission from 2013 to 2014 and of the Investigative Commission of the Rodolfo Orellana Rengifo Case.

In his term in office, he was considered a swing vote among regional representatives.

He ran for the Presidency of the Congress in 2015, losing to opposition congressman Luis Iberico Núñez.

Zeballos was reelected in 2016, running this time as an independent within Peruvians for Change.

In the 2016 elections, he was invited to run for reelection under the Peruvians for Change congressional list of the Moquegua Region.

He was successfully reelected for the 2016–2021 term.

He left the parliamentary caucus in December 2017, in protest to the pardon granted to former president Alberto Fujimori by the leader of the party and then-President of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

In Martín Vizcarra's administration, Zeballos was appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights, serving in the position until his appointment as Prime Minister after Salvador del Solar's resignation due to the denied confidence given by Congress, prompting its constitutional dissolution.

His tenure was marked by controversy and subject of extensive media scrutiny regarding his management skills, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.

On June 21, 2017, he was appointed spokesman for his bench for the period 2017–2018; however, on December 27 of the same year, he resigned from the ruling party in protest at the humanitarian pardon granted to former President Alberto Fujimori by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

On July 21, 2018, president Martín Vizcarra appointed him Minister of Justice, replacing the disgraced Salvador Heresi, who resigned amidst the political scandal involving the Supreme Court Justice, César Hinostroza.

During his tenure, he was questioned before Congress twice.

Serving in the cabinet as Minister of Justice and Human Rights, his term would be shortened due to the dissolution of Congress issued by president Vizcarra on September 30, 2019.

On March 14, 2019, with 8 votes in favor, 24 against, and one abstention, Congress approved the admission of a motion for appeal against Zeballos for him to report on the terms of the collaboration agreement with the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which was signed with the Public Ministry and the Attorney General.

On August 15, 2019, Congress voted on the admission of a second motion for appeal against the minister to respond to the escape of the hitman William Moreno (a.k.a. "Goro"), hitman from former Governor of Ancash, César Álvarez's criminal network, and implicated in the death of former regional councilman, Ezequiel Nolasco and Hilda Saldarriaga.

With 63 votes in favor, eight against and 21 abstentions, Zeballos was summoned on September 2 to answer a set of 12 questions regarding the case.

On September 2, 2019, Zeballos attended Congress to answer the questions of the interpellation statement.

The debate lasted more than four hours and was finally suspended by the President of Congress, Pedro Olaechea, without actually presenting a vote of no confidence.

On September 30, 2019, Zeballos was sworn as the new Prime Minister of Peru, succeeding Salvador del Solar, following the disputed attempt by Congress passing a no-confidence motion against the latter and his cabinet as a whole.

Zeballos was succeeded in office by former Prime Minister Pedro Cateriano on July 15, 2020.