This week’s confirmation of just how catastrophic the pandemic has been for Peru helps explain the similarly disastrous political scenario voters face just days ahead of a dispiriting second-round presidential election. But Peru is only one of several South American nations where the political future looks remarkably muddled.
April 15, 2021 last updated 8:48 ET Presidential candidate of the Peru Libre party Pedro Castillo speaks during a conference in Chota, Peru, April 14, 2021 (AP photo by Martin Mejia).
Peru’s Political Nightmare Just Got Worse
A dozen years ago, when Peruvians were heading to the polls for a presidential runoff election, the acclaimed novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, who had himself once tried his hand at politics, famously likened the choice voters faced between the two remaining candidates to that between AIDS and cancer. Since then, Peruvians have seen their political system careen off the rails, culminating in last weekend’s first-round presidential election, the outcome of which sent financial markets tumbling and left the country in shock.