At a meeting of Western Hemisphere leaders in Lima, Peru, just moments after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Secretary of State Colin Powell signed the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Andean nation had recently emerged from a decade of authoritarian rule under Alberto Fujimori. This was the right time and place for governments to endorse democratic principles.
Today, however, many Peruvian supporters of democracy are dispirited. When they mark the charter’s 10th year, their country will have a president of suspect democratic credentials. Peru’s already fragile institutions will be severely tested.
Read the complete article at The Washington Post.
