Latin America’s top five politicians under 40: Pedro Kumamoto

Pedro Kumamoto was the first independent candidate ever elected to Jalisco’s state congress.

At just 26 years old, Pedro Kumamoto flipped the script on Mexico’s governing elite when he helped lead a successful crusade against their most sacred privilege. When the Jalisco state legislature voted in July to strip all public officials of their immunity to prosecution while in office—a measure that he sponsored—the state became the first in the country to do away with what had become a symbol of Mexico’s political impunity.

The achievement came just 13 months after Kumamoto made history as the first independent candidate elected to the western Mexican state’s legislature. That Kumamoto, a great-grandson of a Japanese immigrant with no ties to any political party, was able to convince some legislators to essentially vote against their own interests testifies to his powers of persuasion and the strength of his vision…

This article is part of Americas Quarterly’s list of the top five politicians in Latin America aged under 40.  Click here to read the article in full in English or in Spanish. The full list appears in AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil” and is available online here.