Peru Elects a President
Over the last few weeks a fascinating plot has been taking place in Peru, with the presidential elections, which occur every five years and does not allow a second term for the incumbent.
At the beginning of May the first round of elections took place, with several candidates on the ballot splitting the mandatory vote (if you're a Peruvian citizen and you don't vote, you are fined). For a candidate to win at this stage, they need to garner over 50% of the vote. If no candidate earns the majority of votes, a run-off occurs between the top two vote-getters from the first round.
The candidates that emerged from the first round were Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimora, two fascinating if deeply flawed contenders. Ollanta ran for presidency in the last election in 2006, nearly winning at that time. Allied with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela he advanced a socialist, nationalistic platform that railed against outside influences (such as the U.S.) in Peru. While his tone was softened this election, many citizens were still wary of his assumed desire to direct the country towards socialism. Those concerns were not assuaged when on Friday a news report revealed that millions of dollars for this campaign were funneled indirectly from Venezuela (via Brazil and then through Bolivia).
His opponent was Keiko, the 36 year old daughter of former president, Alberto Fujimori. Her father, who was president from 1990-2000, still casts a strong influence over Peru. Elected into power at the height of the terrorist times in Peru, he rapidly moved against the terrorists who had made life in all regions of the country dangerous. However, his regime soon descended into corruption, stealing millions while "disappearing" opponents of the government. With pressure closing in on him, he stole away to Japan, but was extradited back to Peru in 2009 where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the human rights abuses he oversaw.
During his regime, he divorced his wife and Keiko, then a 16 year old high school student was elevated to the position of First Lady in the government. While attempting to distance herself from the negativity of her father's regime, she was accused of surrounding herself with the same officials who had worked in her father's government. Assumptions were made by many that an election of Keiko would be a return to the corruption that marked her father's government.
On our drive home from Lunahuana:
With voting stations closing at 4 p.m. this afternoon, the polling results were released and Ollanta was declared the winner, with nearly 55% of the vote (unofficially). While Peru's economy has boomed in recent years (one of the few countries that continued to grow during the world-wide economic downturn), poverty still predominates throughout the country. In Lima the boom times are evident in the number of apartments, hotels, business offices and other buildings being erected throughout the city. Yet the indicators of poverty also exist throughout the city and when you move beyond Lima, the rest of the nation is strongly impacted by the poverty. Not surprisingly, Ollanta won the communities outside of Lima (particularly in the south of Peru) while Keiko captured greater Lima.
I suppose it was a sobering message to the power brokers of Lima and Peru that the rest of the country could not be left behind. It will be interesting to see where Peru goes from here; there's considerable anxiety as to what an Ollanta victory will mean to the economy of Peru-will foreign companies still feel comfortable investing in Peru or will their much desired capital leave the country? Will the elite of Peru flock to other destinations, repeating what occurred during the terrorist times? In a continent that claims many leftist governments (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela), will Peru be able to thrive like Brazil or will he fall in line with Chavez and make Peru an insular country that stops the progress made in the last few years?
The crowd awaits to enter during the first round of elections in May:
At the voting station this morning (that's Marianella in the corner):
At the beginning of May the first round of elections took place, with several candidates on the ballot splitting the mandatory vote (if you're a Peruvian citizen and you don't vote, you are fined). For a candidate to win at this stage, they need to garner over 50% of the vote. If no candidate earns the majority of votes, a run-off occurs between the top two vote-getters from the first round.
The candidates that emerged from the first round were Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimora, two fascinating if deeply flawed contenders. Ollanta ran for presidency in the last election in 2006, nearly winning at that time. Allied with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela he advanced a socialist, nationalistic platform that railed against outside influences (such as the U.S.) in Peru. While his tone was softened this election, many citizens were still wary of his assumed desire to direct the country towards socialism. Those concerns were not assuaged when on Friday a news report revealed that millions of dollars for this campaign were funneled indirectly from Venezuela (via Brazil and then through Bolivia).
His opponent was Keiko, the 36 year old daughter of former president, Alberto Fujimori. Her father, who was president from 1990-2000, still casts a strong influence over Peru. Elected into power at the height of the terrorist times in Peru, he rapidly moved against the terrorists who had made life in all regions of the country dangerous. However, his regime soon descended into corruption, stealing millions while "disappearing" opponents of the government. With pressure closing in on him, he stole away to Japan, but was extradited back to Peru in 2009 where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the human rights abuses he oversaw.During his regime, he divorced his wife and Keiko, then a 16 year old high school student was elevated to the position of First Lady in the government. While attempting to distance herself from the negativity of her father's regime, she was accused of surrounding herself with the same officials who had worked in her father's government. Assumptions were made by many that an election of Keiko would be a return to the corruption that marked her father's government.
On our drive home from Lunahuana:
With voting stations closing at 4 p.m. this afternoon, the polling results were released and Ollanta was declared the winner, with nearly 55% of the vote (unofficially). While Peru's economy has boomed in recent years (one of the few countries that continued to grow during the world-wide economic downturn), poverty still predominates throughout the country. In Lima the boom times are evident in the number of apartments, hotels, business offices and other buildings being erected throughout the city. Yet the indicators of poverty also exist throughout the city and when you move beyond Lima, the rest of the nation is strongly impacted by the poverty. Not surprisingly, Ollanta won the communities outside of Lima (particularly in the south of Peru) while Keiko captured greater Lima.
I suppose it was a sobering message to the power brokers of Lima and Peru that the rest of the country could not be left behind. It will be interesting to see where Peru goes from here; there's considerable anxiety as to what an Ollanta victory will mean to the economy of Peru-will foreign companies still feel comfortable investing in Peru or will their much desired capital leave the country? Will the elite of Peru flock to other destinations, repeating what occurred during the terrorist times? In a continent that claims many leftist governments (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela), will Peru be able to thrive like Brazil or will he fall in line with Chavez and make Peru an insular country that stops the progress made in the last few years?
The crowd awaits to enter during the first round of elections in May:
At the voting station this morning (that's Marianella in the corner):
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