With a transitional government and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peru held general elections in 2021. Although the acceleration of vaccination made it possible to at-tain more social and economic stability, the trend towards instability that began in the past five years continued during the first months of Castillo’s administration. An outsider without a party and without political support faces a radicalized but unpopular opposition, which has normalized the threat of presidential vacancia. Democracy persists as a conse-quence of a tie between these weak actors: a democracy by default.