The Andean nation of Peru, like much of Latin America, is trapped in a web of contradictions. With one of the fastest growing economies in the region, President Alejandro Toledo’s approval rating has dropped from fifty nine percent to less than twelve percent – an unprecedented level. The murderous Shining Path guerrillas, soundly defeated in the 1990s, are enjoying a resurgence, kidnapping seventy one pipeline workers in early June, then ambushing an army patrol and killing seven people in July. Experiencing a democratic renaissance after a decade of authoritarian rule, popular disgust with political parties and old-style political leaders has seldom been higher.