An extraordinary transfer of power from a military dictatorship to a democratically elected government took place in Lima last week, on the 13 5th anniversary of Peru's independence from Spain. Inaugurated as President for a six-year term was Manuel Prado Ugarteche, 67, a conservative, pro-U.S. aristocrat who had already served one full presidential term, 1939-45.* On the same day the new Congress speedily and unanimously dismantled the dictatorship's legal structure. In a series of new-broom bills, the lawmakers declared an amnesty for political prison ers, swept away oppressive security laws, restored legality to the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA).
So...