The Last Throw of the Dice

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I think it was a desperate action of a president who had never been up to the job. He won by just 50,000 out of about 17 million votes and got through five cabinets in 16 months. The ministers came and went almost weekly - many were as unqualified as he was. According to the chief prosecutor, he and several members of his family corruptly conspired to award public contracts. There were various prosecutions underway against him, which could not be brought while he enjoyed presidential immunity. But the real drama was what was going to happen in Congress because on previous two attempts to impeach him, the numbers weren't there.

Perhaps Pedro Castillo thought he could repeat the coup staged by his predecessor, Alberto Fujimori, in 1992. He did not, and is now behind bars. We ask how his fitful presidency fell apart so suddenly. Our correspondent explains why getting policy right around e-cigarettes is so tricky. And what the funerals of Kenya’s motorbike-taxi drivers reveal about the country. Help us make the show better: take our listener survey at http://economist.com/intelligencesurvey For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer