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Peru Thrown into Constitutional Crisis Amid Power Struggle

Associated Press

   LIMA, PERU - A bitter struggle between Peru's president and congress
   over who will govern the South American country threatened to become a
   lengthy and destabilizing legal battle as each side dug in Tuesday amid
   the deepest constitutional crisis in nearly three decades.

   President Martin Vizcarra dissolved the opposition-controlled congress
   and called new elections on Monday, saying the step was needed to
   uproot the nation's endemic corruption. Defiant opposition lawmakers
   voted to suspend him from office and appointed a vice president who
   recently broke ranks in his place.

   The 35-member Organization of American States on Tuesday urged Peru's
   Constitutional Tribunal to weigh in on the feud as both sides accused
   the other of abusing power and jeopardizing the nation's stability.

   The military and governors stood by Vizcarra while several private
   business coalitions announced they would back Mercedes Araoz, who
   legislators swore into office late Monday night as the country's
   rightful chief of state.

   "It seems we are facing a protracted political crisis, with the dispute
   potentially ending up before courts," said Maria Luisa Puig, an analyst
   for the Eurasia Group consultancy.

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