Peru’s President Tries to Solve a Latin American Riddle
What happens when lawmakers, not leaders, are the rogues-in-chief?
What dissolution looks like.
Photographer: Cris Bouroncle/AFP via Getty Images
Latin America’s return to democracy has hit many craters, mostly at the hands of rogue presidents who centralize power and trample the law. But what happens when the lawmakers are the rogues?
Peru may reveal the answer to that riddle. After months of clashes, a willful president and a crony legislature hit an impenetrable impasse. Repeatedly thwarted in his attempts to reform politics and pass anti-graft legislation, President Martin Vizcarra dissolved Congress last week and called for fresh elections. Congress retaliated by voting to dissolve his presidency and installed the vice president in his place. Her tenure lasted 36 hours. Now one of Latin America’s most prosperous nations has a legislature in limbo, its leader behind guarded palace doors, and Peruvians in the streets celebrating a revolt with no endgame.