Francisco Sagasti

Sagasti has served numerous advisory roles over the decades. He was appointed as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Technological, Industrial Research and Technical Standards of Peru (ITINTEC) from 1972 to 1977. He was also an advisor to the Minister of Industry, Rear Admiral AP Alberto Jiménez de Lucio, during the revolutionary government of the Armed Forces, during which time as an advisor, he contributed to industrialization and technology matters. From the ministry, Sagasti also advised the National Research Council.

From 1978 to 1980, he was Advisor to the Vice President of the International Development Research Centre in Bogotá. Sagasti and two colleagues, Claudio Herzka and Hélan Jaworski, founded Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) in 1980.[7] In 1982 he participated as a Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, and Columbia universities. 

He was Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Allan Wagner Tizón from 1985 to 1987 while also being a member of the Advisory Council of the National Planning Institute.

In 1984 he became a member of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development and served as president of the commission from 1989 to 1990.[7]

The World Bank promoted structural adjustment to Third World countries in order to establish austerity policies in the 1980s, with such policies being reported by UNICEF as being responsible for "reduced health, nutritional and educational levels for tens of millions of children in Asia, Latin America, and Africa".[8] Sagasti was named Chief of the newly-created Strategic Planning Division of the World Bank from 1987 to 1990.[7] He became Senior Advisor to the Policy Evaluation and External Relations Departments at the World Bank in 1990.[7]

In 1992, Sagasti resigned from his position at the World Bank and returned to Peru following the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis.[7] He formed the Agenda Peru think tank to formulate plans on how to strengthen democratic norms and deter further political violence in Peru.[9] During this period, he also spread awareness and criticism of the authoritarian government of Alberto Fujimori.[9]

He was kidnapped by the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) during the Japanese embassy hostage crisis in 1996.[10] Sagasti was released a few days later and returned to Costa Rica, where he lived with his family.[11] Sagasti, upon being released, brought with him a diary of the events with the signatures of MRTA members.[9]

From 2007 to 2009, he was President of the Board of Directors of the Science and Technology Program (FINCyT) in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the administrations of Jorge del Castillo and Yehude Simon Munaro. He was reappointed in the position between December 2011 and March 2013 under the management of Óscar Valdés Dancuart and Juan Jiménez Mayor. From 2009 to 2014, he was principal investigator of FORO Nacional/Internacional, an entity dedicated to promoting debate and consensus on critical issues for national and international development.

In the 2010s, Sagasti was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Strategic Foresight Community.[12]

Since the founding of the Purple Party in October 2016, Sagasti helped found and served as the ideological leader of the party.[2][13] Sagasti was elected into the Congress of the Republic of Peru during the 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election, assuming office on 16 March 2020.

During the impeachment process of President Martín Vizcarra, he declined to support the process, demanding "that justice follow its course and that it falls with all severity at the end of his term".[14] President Vizcarra was removed from office by congress on 9 November 2020, a move Sagasti disagreed with. Vizcarra's removal was recognized as a coup by many Peruvians,[15] political analysts[16] and media outlets in the country,[17][18][19][20][21] resulting with the beginning of the 2020 Peruvian protests. The following day on 10 November, as the President of the Peruvian Congress, Manuel Merino became the new president of Peru following the line of succession established in the nation's constitution, forming a far-right government with the support of Peruvian Navy admirals.[22][23][24][25] Protests intensified against Merino until the deaths of two protesters on 14 November, resulting with the immediate resignations of the majority of Merino's ministers.[26] Five days after assuming the presidency, Merino resigned from the presidency as a result of the backlash.[27]

Francisco Sagasti and his Ministerial Cabinet in the Great Hall of the Government Palace, November 2020.

On 16 November 2020, Sagasti was elected by the legislature to be the new President of Congress. Due to vacancies in the position of President and Vice President, he became President of Peru by the line of succession.[28] Upon taking office, he established his four main priorities for his temporary tenure; the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, combatting corruption within the country, creating a stable economy and the promotion of education to rural areas.[29] Support for Sagasti's presidency was expressed by Chile, the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States.[30]

Like preceding presidents, Americas Quarterly wrote that Sagasti faced difficult relations with congress and that he will need to manage the effects of the two governments before him, including holding those responsible for violently responding to protests accountable for their actions.[9] Sagasti attempted to reform the leadership of the National Police due to their use of violence during protests, removing Commander General Orlando Velasco from leading the National Police.[31] Eighteen additional generals of the National Police resigned or were dismissed,[31][32] with Interior Minister Rubén Vargas resigning following the change to leadership.[33] Five days later Vargas' successor Cluber Aliaga would also resign in disagreement with Sagasti, defending the use of force by police saying that protesters initiated violence.[32]

• El reto del Perú en la perspectiva del tercer mundo (coauthored with Jorge Bravo Bresani and Augusto Salazar Bondy). Lima, Moncloa - Campodonónico Editores Asociados, 1972.
• Tecnología, planificación y desarrollo autónomo, Lima, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1977;
• Ciencia, tecnología y desarrollo latinoamericano, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1981;
• La política científica y tecnológica en América Latina, Colegio de México, 1983;
• Imaginemos un Perú mejor, Lima, Agenda: Perú, 1999;
• Democracia y Buen Gobierno (with Pepi Patrón, Nicolás Lynch and Max Hernández), Lima, Editorial Apoyo, 1999;
• Development Cooperation in a Fractured global Order (with Gonzalo Alcalde), Ottawa, IDRC, 1999;
• A Foresight and Policy Study of the Multilateral Development Banks, Stockholm, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 2000;
• La banca multilateral de desarrollo en América Latina, United Nations Publications, 2002;
• Knowledge and Innovation for Development, Londres, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004;
• The Future of Development Financing: Challenges and Strategic Choices, Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave-McMillan, 2005;
• Power, Purse and Numbers: A Diagnostic Study of the UN Budget and Finance Process and Structure (with Úrsula Casabonne and Fernando Prada), Stockholm, The Four Nations Initiative, October 2007;
• Ciencia, tecnología, innovación. Políticas para América Latina, Lima, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2011;
• Un desafío persistente. Políticas de ciencia, tecnología e innovación en el Perú del siglo 21 (coauthored with Lucía Málaga Sabogal). Lima, Fondo de Cultura Económica del Perú/ Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2017.

• Una Búsqueda Incierta: Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1996. Editor (con J. Salomón y C. Sachs).
• PERÚ: Agenda y Estrategia para el Siglo 21, Lima, Editorial Apoyo, 2000. Publication coordinator.

• He has published more than 150 academic articles.
• He has been a member of the editorial board of the magazines Foresight, El Trimestre Económico, World Development and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
• He is a contributor to Lima newspapers and magazines, including Caretas, Perú 21, El Comercio, and La República.