The “death of democracy” has not left much of a vacuum in Peru. It was more like the death of somebody’s old uncle, whose name had been familiar in the household for many years, but who died, where he had always lived, in some far-off town the family never quite got around to visiting—although they had always meant to, or at least that’s what they said. If there is one profound reality in Peruvian politics it is the fact that this country has absolutely no democratic tradition, and any attempt to introduce one is going to meet violent opposition. The people who need democracy don’t even know
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