HOW TO SUBVERT DEMOCRACY: MONTESINOS IN PERU
Of the checks and balances on which every democracy is based, which is the most critical? Peru has set in motion the full set of democratic mechanisms: a Constitution, opposition parties, regular elections, a limited presidential term, guarantees of judicial independence, and a free press. In the 1990s, Peru was governed, in the name of President Alberto Fujimori, by the head of the secret police, Vladimiro Montesinos Torres. In the exercise of his power, Montesinos methodically bribed judges, politicians, and media outlets.