Dark days for Peru's political dynasty after congress closes

[Judi Lynn]

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
LIMA, Peru — Oct 4, 2019, 12:22 PM ET

Inside a colonial-era mansion that has seen better days, leaders of Peru's Fuerza Popular movement gathered for an urgent meeting Thursday, scrambling for ways to save their party's once-dominant place in politics.

President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the congress early this week and called new elections after a dispute with lawmakers over anti-corruption efforts, unilaterally eliminating Fuerza Popular's hard-won majority in the legislature. Meanwhile, the party's leader was already sitting behind bars at a women's jail filled with drug traffickers and petty thieves while she is investigated for money laundering.

The dissolution of congress has plunged Peru into its deepest constitutional crisis in nearly three decades, and it may also be the start of a final, bleak chapter for the country's most prominent political dynasty. When the legislature was last shut down in 1992, strongman Alberto Fujimori sat in the presidential palace calling the shots. Fast forward 27 years, and now it is the party led by his cherished eldest daughter that is being kicked out.

When Fuerza Popular's leaders stepped outside their headquarters after their meeting, they encountered a cruel realty: Much of Peru doesn't love them anymore.

More:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dark-days-perus-political-dynasty-congress-closes-66052244