PERU PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS : HUMALA FOR PREZ !

Humala Campaign Enlivens Peruvian Election

By JOAQUIN RIVERY TUR
rivery @granma.cip.cu

With a flurry of activity, the campaign for the presidency of Peru is
in the home stretch and the polls have the leading two candidates neck
and neck for the April 9 vote.

The main sensation that turned the race into a hotly contested
three-way campaign is without a doubt Ollanta Humala of the Partido
Union por el Peru (Union for Peru Party) who surged to the top of the
polls and has a decent chance of winning.

The other leading contenders are pro-business Lourdes Flores of the
Unidad Nacional (National Unity Alliance) and former president Alan
Garcia of the Partido Aprista Peruano (American Popular Revolutionary
Alliance).

In all, there are 21 candidates but it is the candidate with an
indigenous name that draws the most attention, as his opponents attack
him as if he were their only competition.

The polls have remained consistent in the final stage of the campaign,
putting Ollanta Humala on top. The former Lt. Colonel, who led a
rebellion against Alberto Fujimori in 2000, calls himself a
revolutionary and speaks out against neoliberalism and traditional
politics.

Humala’s closest rival is Lourdes Flores, who led the polls before he
entered the campaign. Running third, but also with a substantial
following, is Alan Garcia. If no candidate garners 50 percent of the
vote, a second round balloting will occur between the top two
vote-getters.

The other 18 candidates are only asterisks in a campaign full of empty
promises and characterized by insults and attacks against opponents,
commonplace in Latin American elections.

Ollanta Humala has been accused of committing all sorts of crimes,
including disappearances and tortures when he headed the
anti-subversive campaign in the jungle region of Tingo Maria and went
by the name of Captain Carlos. The former officer admits having used
the alias, but denies all accusations that his opponents have lodged
against him since January, saying that they have not presented any
proof.

Humala’s discourse is generally against traditional politics and
corruption, and in favor of educational and health programs, without
which he says the situation in Peru could turn explosive, as in
neighboring countries.

"I want to see the Armed Forces with soldiers with last names like
Kuczynski (prime minister) or Belaunde (ex-president) and that have a
commander or general with the last name of Mamani (of indigenous
origin)", said Humala in reaching out to the native population that
has always been cannon fodder.

Both political analysts and the media coincide that Humala has on his
side the loss of prestige of the political parties and their leaders
that has caused mistrust amongst voters, who want to see new faces in
leadership roles.

The heavy artillery of Flores and Garcia is pointed at Humala; both
candidates have asked voters not to vote for Humala if there is a
second round runoff election.

WHY HAS HUMALA STIRRED UP PERU?

The answer can be found in a few words: poverty, hunger, illiteracy,
unemployment and poor health.

According to World Bank studies, some 40 percent of the population
lives in extreme poverty, closely linked to the neoliberal policies
implemented. Candidate promises, forgotten time and time again after
they take office, has led a majority of the population to lose faith
in the system.

According to the 1993 census, 12 million of Peru’s 22,639,000
inhabitants lived in poverty, with over 6 million living in extreme
poverty unable to satisfy their basic nutritional needs. In 1996, one
in every five Peruvians faced hunger; the poorest lived in the
countryside.

And the misery has increased since that time.

The government officially recognizes that 5.7 percent of the
economically active population is unemployed while 51.8 percent are
underemployed. Only 36.5 percent have a steady job in the less than
reliable government data.

This is the panorama with which Peruvians will go to the polls on
April 9.