Peru cycled through three different presidents in a week last month—a record even in a country notorious for shifting political winds. Popular demonstrations have spilled onto the streets, led by young people who are advocating for major institutional changes in the country. Some are pushing for a referendum on a new constitution in the same way that demonstrators in Chile successfully did this past year. Peru should follow in Chile’s footsteps and write a new constitution.
Peru’s political system is facing a serious crisis of legitimacy. The country has been ravaged by COVID-19, exposing major gaps and inefficiencies in its health care system. All of its former elected presidents are either jailed or facing corruption charges. Congress is deeply unpopular and inexperienced. Over half of its members are under investigation for corruption, some of whom are linked to the political party of the daughter of the country’s last dictator, Alberto Fujimori. And in spite of the country’s enviable record of economic growth over the last two decades, inequality remains sky-high, and many Peruvians remain mired in poverty.
