As Peru’s government dissolves, Enterprise Florida pitches roadshow

This week, Enterprise Florida announced a roadshow entitled “Doing Business With Peru,” a multicity extravaganza meant to educate the business community in Florida about potential business opportunities in the South American Country. Timing on this could not be worse for EFI.

As Florida Politics and The Associated Press have reported, the Peruvian President has dissolved Congress and the country has been thrown into a constitutional crisis that makes Washington D.C. look like a PTA meeting.

Last week, President Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress after members of the opposition party cobbled together a slim majority to oppose him.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition party is already in jail and being investigated for money laundering.

Did I mention that leader is the daughter of Peru’s longtime President Alberto Fujimori, who himself is in the middle of a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses and the murders of 25 people?

I believe The Big Lebowski best sums up the situation when he said “The g## d@*% plane has crashed into the mountain!”

But back to the roadshow.

According to the news release by EFI, attendees of the roadshow will learn about:

—The economic, political, and social environment of the country. (Things are … not great)

—Best export opportunities for Florida companies. (Food, oil, soldiers of fortune, former legislators)

—How companies can participate in the upcoming Export Sales Mission. (Spring for refundable flights)

—How to qualify for a grant that cover 100 percent of the Participation Fee for Florida companies. (You can probably just show up, might not be a lot of demand for this one)

The roadshow is a primer for companies who are interested in participating in next year’s Export Mission to Peru, scheduled for April 2020. But perhaps this might not be the right time for a Sunshine and Rainbows Over Lima Campaign by EFI.

At the very least, before you schedule a dog and pony show to promote partnerships with foreign countries, make sure they’re not in the middle of a coup d’état.