Weekly Report - 06 August 2009 (WR-09-31)

President Alan Garcí­a has spent much of the last week defending proposals he made during his state-of the-nation speech to congress on 28 July, Peru's Independence Day. Perhaps the most controversial, given the origin of the constitutional crisis in Honduras, was his call for a popular referendum related to electoral term limits - specifically the introduction of mid-term elections to renew half of congress. The most interesting proposal, however, was his call for “popular decentralisation" which, while he would strenuously deny it, bears some resemblance to the structures put in place by President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.