PERU: Retiring Strongman?

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Since October 1948, when he seized power as the leader of a military coup, General Manuel Odria has ruled Peru as a fatherly, sometimes Big Brotherly dictator. Elected President in 1950 in a one-candidate race, Odria said recently that he intended to step down at the end of his six-year term, handing his office over to a constitutionally elected successor. Many of his countrymen doubted whether the strongman, only 57, really meant it, but last week, in a published interview with touring New York Timesman Herbert L. Matthews, Odria repeated his intention with notable firmness. He gave two reasons for wanting to hand over power, putting them, perhaps unintentionally, in an ironical order: "In the first place, I am too tired after years of intensive work, and in the second place, our constitution forbids any President to run again." Odria's decision sets up a knotty political problem for him and for Peru. The country has moved forward economically under honest, efficient Dictator Odria. By boldly unpegging the currency, cutting away useless export-import controls, and welcoming foreign investment capital, he stimulated production and trade. But with economic liberty went tight political control. In the absence of functioning political parties and a free press, the conditions for a democratic or even a democratic-looking presidential election do not exist in Peru. And they are not likely to exist next year unless, in the meantime, President Odria loosens his Big Brotherly grip.