The Dual Path of the Peruvian Legal Left

The persistence of allusions to the use of force and violence in the discourse of the Peruvian legal left cannot be seen merely as a rhetorical factor. At the very least, it tinges with ambiguity the relationship of this left with respect to the democratic regime, for three reasons: 1) the existence of an armed struggle in Peru for nine years, as a political alternative, whose doctrinal justification is very similar to that invoked by the legal left; 2) there is a constant flow of militants from legal left-wing parties to subversive groups; and 3) the proposal of "mass self-defense" by the Peruvian legal left has a confused profile, and undoubtedly alludes to the use of force outside the power of the State.