Peru's President-Elect Faces Early Policy Dispute

TWO top economic advisers of Peruvian President-elect Alberto Fujimori resigned their posts July 16 because of policy disputes with Mr. Fujimori less than two weeks before he takes office. The resignations of Santiago Roca and Adolfo Figueroa were the strongest sign yet that Fujimori was abandoning his campaign promise to use gradualist methods to cure Peru's 2,500 percent annual inflation in favor of drastic austerity steps. Both Mr. Roca and Mr. Figueroa had supported gradualist methods, popularly seen as less painful than drastic ``shock'' methods.

Colombia's president-elect reviews drug war tactics

Colombia's president-elect C'esar Gaviria pledged July 16 a thorough review of the state's tactics in the war on drug traffickers. Mr. Gaviria said that he would tackle criticism that the state offensive had failed to reduce drug-related violence by strengthening the government's intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Gaviria said that during his recent overseas tour he had stressed Colombia's need for economic help, particularly easier access to foreign markets, to help the country bear the heavy sacrifices of the drug war.

Political Scandals in Mexico

Mexico's first opposition governor, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, is conducting an unprecedented experiment with democracy and the strength of the legal system.

In July 1989 Mr. Ruffo, a member of the conservative National Action Party, became the first opposition candidate to win the governorship of one of Mexico's 31 states since the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was founded in 1929.

His recent efforts to expose political scandals, including alleged electoral fraud and the diversion of millions of dollars in state funds to PRI campaign coffers, have been a major embarrassment to the federal government.

According to documents filed recently in court by Ruffo's administration, over $10 million in state funds were poured into the PRI's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign last year.