I need a cup of chamomile tea. (93.92%) Suffering in Peruvian.

In case you are wondering how I am doing: the 0.132 difference just went down to 0.002 at 93.87% of ballots counted

Aujourd’hui at @lasabluesky.bsky.social, I’ll be chairing a panel on healthcare policies in LatAm & presenting a paper on the political economy of cancer care policies in Peru. My colleagues will focus on public admin and implementation issues in Brasil and Peru. Details below if you’re around!👇🏽

LASA-bound. On my way to Paris (!) to present findings from my dissertation research. Definitely a pinch-me moment.

As if we didn’t have enough with domestic issues…

Very excited because tomorrow at @maxwellsu.bsky.social, we’ll be hosting a conversation on Peru’s ever-shifting, volatile political landscape. We’ll be joined by Salvador del Solar—former Prime Minister and Maxwell’s MAIR alum. Looking forward to a thoughtful and timely discussion.

Preliminary exit poll results from the Peruvian general elections: Keiko Fujimori leads with ~16%. She is in for her 4th attempt to land in the Presidency. Followed by… that's a big question mark. Different polling companies are giving disparate results, with very small differential margins.

Scholars disagree about the meaning of academic freedom. In a new paper with @colinelman.bsky.social and Brooklyn Montgomery, we analyze this disagreement through Gallie’s notion of an essentially contested concept. The full paper is available at @apsa-preprints.bsky.social. 1/3

Tomorrow in @maxwellsu.bsky.social talking about geopolitics and social rights in Latin America, with both my scholar and (former? almost?) practitioner hats on. Vamos!

#Peru's congress just removed José Jerí, the country's 8th president since 2016. #chifagate www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Peruvian Congress about to impeach the President… a couple of months before general elections. En route to our ninth president in ten years. Beautiful.

Paper to be presented next week at the Conference on Policy Process Research #COPPR2026: ✅ Listo and submitted to my panel’s chair and discussant 🤓 Now, time to rest so I can get my slides ready over the next few days and then, present… ON WEDNESDAY AT 3 AM 😵

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Current state of Peruvian Politics in a snapshot: late last night, the eighth presidential transition in ten years took place 🙃 Como diría mi mamá: así las cosas… 🤦🏽‍♀️

Today in “Songs for a LatAm Politics Class”:

Exhausted 🫠 and it’s only Wednesday!) But happy 🙃. Today, soon after I got out of bed at 5am to put in an hour of PhD work before the little one wakes up, I learned that my paper proposal to the Conference on Policy Process Research has been accepted! 🤓 Switzerland (or Boston) here we* come!

Last Friday was a very special day at @maxwellsu.bsky.social : the first meeting of the Latin American Politics Discussion Group, which I co-coordinate with Erika Arias under the mentorship of Jessie Trudeau. ✨

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Let’s see if I can find here what I can’t by trying to call the IRS: Have any of you hired an RA (not a US citizen or resident) to gather data in a different country & work remotely? If so, what things need to be considered regarding taxes or other legal issues? Thanks! @academic-chatter.bsky.social

New addition to our coffee station ✨ Or, as I told my daughter the other day: this is mami and papi’s new toy 🙃

Yesterday was Peru’s Independence Day. We celebrated with lots of Peruvian food, music, and clothing. Exposing my daughter to her Peruvian roots fills my heart with joy. At the same time, this celebration felt bitter. It happened amidst a worrisome political context, to say the least, and the…

Felicidades @bgarciaholgado.bsky.social! ☺️

📣 ¡Ya está abierta la convocatoria para propuestas LASA2026 Paris! 🇫🇷 📝 Envía tu propuesta antes del 9 de septiembre de 2025 *Se requiere membresía vigente 🔗 Info: loom.ly/BGVrRvQ #CallForPapers #LASA2026

Songs that I had to play on repeat today, per the orders of my 4yo: Blueberry Island, by The Julie Ruin Funky Town, by Lipps Inc. Take on me, by A-ha. It was a good day 🙂

If I don’t text back, call back, or email back, it is because I am in hardcore IQMR-prep mode (not as a participant anymore 🤓, but as a coordinator 😎) Two more days to go! 🔥

Not sure why but every time I listen to this song I’m like “I’m playing this in a Latin American Politics class” open.spotify.com/track/3sN2w3...

“I think this is a good thing for Peru. It’s like winning the World Cup!”

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a native of Chicago who is now the first American-born pope, has spent most of his career outside of the U.S, ministering to the dispossessed and marginalized. The “Latin Yankee,” as he is known in Rome, worked 20 years in Peru.

OK, a Peruvian Pope was not in my bingo card but here we are. Wild times!

Notably, Prevost is easily the least typical "American Catholic" of the American cardinals. He was Bishop of Chiclayo (Peru) and a veteran of the curia, and he's much more aligned with Pope Francis than with the other prominent American bishops.

🇻🇦El cardenal Robert Prevost fue elegido en el cargo de máximo representante de la Iglesia Católica. El nuevo Papa, quien tomó el nombre de León XIV es de origen estadounidense y cuenta con nacionalidad peruana.

Peruvians are going crazy right now, especially those from Chiclayo, on the country's northern coast (check details of the new Pope’s bio). I have a million issues with the Catholic Church, but this is a joy my country very much needed 🙂

Recently, someone suggested that I stop studying the politics of healthcare: “It's too complicated.” I'm sorry, I can’t. This piece is an excellent, unfortunate example of why I can’t ignore such a problematic topic in the US, my country, and other parts of the world.

Hoy en las aventuras de Maya Papaya: conociendo el Atlántico 🙃

A leer.

Happy work-from-home day to those who celebrate (me ☺️). (Much needed time to work from the couch, in front of flowers and a candle, and with Debussy’s melodies filling the air 🎵)

Starting, soon, at the @maxwellsu.bsky.social Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs 👇🤓

Dissertating in bed in a calm and quiet town in rural Upstate NY while the little one plays with dad and grandma = rest, much-needed rest 😌

Tell me you have a 4yr old without telling me: I just played one of the Frozen soundtrack songs, loud, and sang it with my heart. The kid is not in the car 🫣 (What can I say. It’s a great soundtrack!)

I feel blessed because amid the ongoing chaos, yesterday we welcomed my dad to our home, and tomorrow, I get to celebrate my girl's fourth birthday. Despite the constant worries, I feel motivated to keep working hard and staying grateful. Vamos. ❤️‍🔥

Favorite album to listen to when it’s time to do some deep work/create/write/thread sentences? I will go first:

"Science is a social process, and teaching students how researchers work in tandem to develop facts will make them less likely to be duped by falsehoods". www.scientificamerican.com/article/to-f...

Cool facts about the city where I was born and raised, in its anniversary, by @denisserolivari.bsky.social

A very eye-opening read. I would assign it to a Research Design class (in the U.S.) so people knew in what type of political/epistemological waters they're swimming)

Happy pie for breakfast day to those who celebrate ✨

It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a health politics starter pack. I tried to find as many folks from our APSA Health Politics section as I could (and a couple folks very adjacent), but let me know who I’ve missed.

Welcome new followers 🙃 Today, I officially joined the exodus from that other place 🫥 Here is some info about me: