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Peru. A military dictator, General Manuel Odría, elected President without opposition after having outlawed the majority party, runs the country in alliance with landed oligarchs.
Uruguay. Model democracy, remodeled last month with a Swiss-type rotating-chairman presidency.
Venezuela. Despite fabulous oil-boom wealth, one of Latin America's most harshly governed countries. Four years after a three-man military junta seized power and outlawed the largest party, Venezuela remains, with Bolivia, the only republic in the hemisphere without a Parliament.