During a period of four days, the former Minister of Justice of Peru, Marisol Perez, participated in a series of meetings in which she shared experiences with various figures, including authorities of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso (PUCV), students of this prestigious institution, as well as Peruvian students who are doing an exchange program at this university. The visit of this prominent former Peruvian parliamentarian was the result of a fruitful collaboration between the Academy of Catholic Leaders and the PUCV, facilitated through the General Directorate of International Affairs and the International Chair of Social Doctrine of the Church of this university.
During her stay in Chile, Marisol Perez actively participated in various seminars that addressed issues of great relevance both nationally and regionally. These topics included Human Rights and Democracy, Social Reinsertion and Chile's process towards the creation of a new Constitution.
An outstanding event in this context was his participation in the colloquium entitled "The constituent process and its impact on education", which was held at the Colegio Seminario San Rafael. This colloquium was attended by the Bishop of Valparaíso, Jorge Vega, the Episcopal Delegate for Education, José Ignacio Latorre, the General Director of International Affairs of the PUCV, Orlando de la Vega, and the Rector of the San Rafael Seminary of Valparaíso, Claudia Bruno.
The trip of the former Peruvian minister concluded with a visit to the Comedor Solidario 421 of the Matriz Church in Valparaiso, where she had the opportunity to learn about the commendable work being done for the benefit of the local community.
PUCV and the Academy of Catholic Leaders (ALC) inaugurate international collaboration with constitutional conversation
An intense program of activities developed during her visit to the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) by the former Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Peru, Marisol Pérez, during which she participated in various meetings in which topics of national and international interest were discussed. The former Minister met with the Grand Chancellor of the PUCV, Bishop of the Diocese of Valparaíso, Jorge Vega, and the Vice Grand Chancellor, Cristián Eichin; the Rector of the PUCV, Nelson Vásquez, and the General Director of International Affairs, Orlando de la Vega, among other authorities. The visit of the lawyer and former parliamentarian arises from the agreement between the PUCV and the Academy of Catholic Leaders. In this context, the International Chair of Social Doctrine of the Church of the PUCV, directed by the academic Juan Pablo Faúndez, together with the General Direction of International Affairs of the same university, invited the former minister Pérez to participate in the colloquiums that counted not only with the participation of authorities but also of national and Peruvian students who are on exchange at the PUCV, with panelists such as Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, former president of Costa Rica, and Carlos Ominami, former Minister of Economy of Chile. Given her experience as former Minister of Justice, she spoke about the importance of social reintegration as the purpose of the sentence and its post-prison effect, an occasion in which she shared with academics and students of the Social Work career of the PUCV, the president of the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso, Rosario Lavín, with representatives of the National Commission of Social Pastoral and Prison Pastoral of the Episcopal Conference of Chile and the Diocese of Valparaíso, and representatives of Gendarmería of the Region of Valparaíso. He also participated in the colloquium on "Human Rights and Democracy", an event organized by the Law School of the PUCV and directed by Dr. María Graciela Brantt, Dean of the Law School. These activities addressed a wide range of aspects related to reintegration. The Chilean constitutional debate was not absent either, and was analyzed in the International Conversatory "Towards a New Constitution for Chile: The Need for Dialogue to Achieve Common Minimums", in which prominent experts participated, including Paz Anastasiadis Le Roy and Carlos Frontaura Rivera, both members of the Expert Commission on the Constitutional Process 2023, representing different political parties.
EVALUATION
These instances of dialogue were highlighted by the former Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Peru, stating that "the university is once again the most important center of thought. Countries change in their classrooms and that is why I highlight the effort of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso to generate these meeting spaces, also using technology, because, for example, the former president of Costa Rica was participating by zoom in the meeting on "Human Rights and Democracy". He also highlighted the possibility that the Social Work students had of "approaching a space for professional development such as the penitentiary field of the Gendarmerie. It seems fundamental to me and how this, which seems to be simply a professional option, ends up leading to a democratic consolidation, in which each one fulfills a role with a much broader view of the country". "Therefore, I congratulate this academic effort, because it reminds us of the importance of university education in the creation of critical thinking and commitment to the construction of citizenship," said Marisol Perez.
TO KNOW OTHER REALITIES
During her stay in Valparaíso, the lawyer also had a meeting with young Peruvians who are studying at PUCV as part of the student exchange program of this house of study. Marisol Pérez valued this type of initiative between Latin American universities, recalling the Erasmus program of the European Union that supports education, training, youth and sports in the old continent. "This type of program allows young people from different European countries to study in different universities and get to know different realities. In this sense, Latin American development is not unidirectional; that is, we all need to work together to find that space for development, we need to feed back," he explained. In this sense, he assured that "these exchange processes with universities such as PUCV, which has such a history, commitment and clear values, is obviously an example of what should be done".
