A Trip to Two Countries

Mexican academic Mauricio Merino has recently spent a lot of time in the United States and Peru, and finds Mexico more like the South American nation than its own neighbor.

The most important problem that [the Peruvians] confront is, nevertheless, identical to that of Mexico: the people don't trust their politicians (and they says so) and the politicians don't trust the people. Because the rules are rarely followed, the State operates at half strength, the informal economy is huge and everyone fends for himself.