Peru

Congress versus the presidency

Experts like Tuesta argue that the last decade of political instability has all but rendered Peru’s executive branch a secondary power.

By contrast, its unicameral Congress has expanded its might, though its members are largely unpopular among Peruvians.

Part of its influence comes from its impeachment powers. Peru’s Congress can remove presidents for “moral incapacity”, a catch-all term that has been used to denounce anything from undisclosed meetings to security crises.

Paulo Vilca, a researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, explained that the shifting power dynamics have made it difficult for presidents to remain in office.

“In the past, we used to elect presidents for five years. Now, what’s more likely is that they will not last five years,” said Vilca.

But Peru’s unicameral Congress will come to an end this year. On Sunday, Peruvians will vote for a second congressional chamber, a Senate, for the first time since 1990.

Vilca argues that the congressional election may be even more important than this year’s presidential race. But it will also likely deepen Peru’s ongoing political crisis, he added.

He predicts that Congress’s chambers will soon be in conflict with each other, as well as with the president, in a three-way battle for power.

“It is very likely that those who are elected deputies, for example, will not be very satisfied with having a subordinate position in front of the Senate,” Vilca said. “So we’re going to move from a crisis of two to a crisis of three.”

The Senate was eliminated in 1992 by the late President Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori’s father, after he dissolved Peru’s bicameral Congress and implemented military rule.

The younger Fujimori has sought to build on her father’s legacy, and her right-wing party, Fuerza Popular, has become a deciding force in the unicameral legislature.

Keiko Fujimori even pledged to use her party’s power to “govern from Congress” after her defeat in the 2016 presidential race.

Since then, analysts have argued that Fuerza Popular has led efforts to change governmental processes to maintain or expand its power, even at the expense of democratic participation.

One change that it championed and passed in 2025 requires parties to earn at least 5 percent of the overall vote and a minimum of seven seats in the lower chamber to maintain their official political registration. For the Senate, parties must get at least three seats and 5 percent of votes.

Critics have said the measure creates a nearly insurmountable threshold.

“This whole system has been designed by the parties that are currently in Congress. And in particular, the one that has controlled the Constitutional Committee all these years has been Fuerza Popular,” said Vilca.

“I think the purpose of designing this whole model has been to maintain a status quo, which the Fujimori wing has also created in the last five years.”

Vilca is not optimistic that a new Senate will resolve the erosion of power away from the presidency. If anything, he anticipates more conflicts to come.

“My most likely scenario is that the crisis continues,” he said, “that whoever is elected president will enter into confrontation with the Senate”.

It has been branded ‘brutal’ and ‘absolute hell’

The world’s longest bus journey spans 4,000 miles and has racked up a negative reputation. It takes over 100 hours to travel the route, which is roughly six days.

The journey connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as it goes from Lima in Peru to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It is made possible thanks to the Trans-Oceanic Highway.

The legendary Transoceánica holds the title of being the longest regularly scheduled, direct commercial bus route in the world.

It runs weekly by the Brazilian bus company and passes through coastal cities, savannas, wetlands, rainforests and the Andes Mountains.

The bus departs on Thursdays at 1pm and promises to be a ride passengers won’t forget. There are 44 regular seats and 12 sleeping berths on board. There’s also a toilet, small sink, water dispenser and Wi-Fi.

However, there are no showers on board. To be able to wash, passengers use facilities during the three scheduled stops per day at roadside stations.

The bus is driven by two alternating drivers, with one resting in a sleeping cabin while the other drives. According to Check My Bus, the ticket price is approximately R$1,300, which is around £186.

From the bus, passengers are able to see world-famous sites including the Amazon Basin, Andes Mountains, Christ the Redeemer and Machu Picchu.

Starting in Rio de Janeiro, the bus makes its way through São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Acre, until it reaches the border with Peru.

It then goes through the Peruvian Amazon, crosses the Andes and takes the Transoceanic Highway to Lima, the capital of Peru.

Despite the stunning scenery, some passengers have found the journey very tricky.

YouTuber Noel Phillips travelled the route and branded it “gruelling” and “absolute hell”. He said that on the bus, personal space was a non-existent concept.

In a video documenting the trip, Noel said: “Nobody has [headphones]; everyone just plays everything on full blast. And when they can’t hear it above everybody else’s, they just turn theirs up so in the end you just have 15 phones playing different things at 55,000 decibels.”

Noel admitted that by the time he reached Brazil, the journey felt repetitive. He faced a number of delays on his journey as well as a lack of heating on the bus.