In a region battered by coronavirus, severe economic contraction and political unrest, few nations have suffered as much as Peru, which goes to the polls this weekend to choose its fifth president in as many years.
While Brazil has grabbed the headlines for the sheer number of people dying during the pandemic, Peru’s per-capita death toll of one in every 630 inhabitants is worse. It is the highest in South America and at one point last year was the highest on the planet.
Even now, the country is facing a ferocious third wave. In late March it recorded its worst day yet for new cases, prompting some to say the April 11 election should be postponed.