Today my country Peru is making one of the most important decisions in its history.
I've watched Peru become a political punchline for the last decade.
Weโve had 9 presidents in 10 years.
NINE.
But that's not even the most insane part.
Every elected Peruvian president since 1985 is either in jail, has been in jail, or has faced arrest.
Lets go down memory lane:
Alberto Fujimori โ 25 years in prison for human rights violations and corruption.
Alejandro Toledo โ sentenced to 20 years for money laundering. Spent years hiding in the US before being extradited back to Peru.
Alan Garcรญa โ two-time president. Shot himself in the head the moment police came to arrest him for corruption. Died.
Ollanta Humala โ sentenced to 15 years for money laundering linked to Venezuela and Brazil's Odebrecht scandal.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski โ resigned, arrested, sentenced. House arrest at 80 years old.
Martรญn Vizcarra โ impeached, banned from public office.
Pedro Castillo โ tried to dissolve Congress in a live TV address, was arrested the same day, sentenced to prison.
Peru even built a special jail exclusively for ex-presidents โฆ
This is a country where power itself has become a crime scene.
And today, AGAIN Peruvians are being asked to choose between two options:
Keiko Fujimori. Hard right. Daughter of a convicted authoritarian who ruled by fear, forced sterilizations, and death squads. She's been on trial for corruption herself three times. This is her fourth attempt at the presidency.
Roberto Sรกnchez. Hard left. Calling for a new constitution, restructuring the economy, and redistribution. The kind of language that sounds like justice to a desperate population.
Here's what nobody wants to say out loud:
When a country is THIS unstable, THIS exhausted, THIS broken that's exactly when the left wins. Not because people want socialism nor because they studied Venezuela or Cuba or Nicaragua.
Because people are so shattered by decades of corruption, betrayal, and chaos that they will vote for ANYTHING that promises something different.
That's a historical pattern that has repeated itself across Latin America for 60 years.
The conditions don't start with a dictator.
They start with a population that stopped believing anything could get better.
They start with a people so beaten down they stop asking what is being promised and just need someone to promise something.
I love Peru. I'm Peruvian. My family is Peruvian. I was born there. And that is exactly why this terrifies me. A beautiful country, with insane resourcesโฆ
The people of Peru don't need a new constitution.
They need leaders who don't belong in a prison cell built specifically for leaders like them.
History doesn't warn you twice. Pray for peru. ๐ต๐ช