First it was Venezuela. Then Chile. Is Peru next?
NEWS: Peruvians vote in polarized election
Leftist ex-military commander Humala leads race by narrow margin
Reuters
Updated: 10:18 a.m. ET April 9, 2006
URL: msnbc.msn.com
LIMA, Peru - Deeply divided along class lines, Peruvians voted Sunday in a tightly contested presidential race led by a leftist nationalist vowing “a revolution to give Peru’s riches to the poor.”
Ollanta Humala, a former army commander backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and accused of war crimes, which he denies, is aiming to become the latest left-leaning leader to rise to power in Latin America.
Pre-election opinion polls showed him holding a slight lead over his two closest competitors but unlikely to garner the more than 50 percent of the vote needed to avoid a May runoff.
A final Apoyo poll released only hours before polls opened at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) Sunday showed Humala likely to face either center-right candidate Lourdes Flores, a former congresswoman bidding to be Peru’s first woman president, or Alan Garcia, a left-leaning ex-president, in a second round.
Viewed as an outsider in a country where the political class is widely discredited, Humala has rallied support among the poor majority who say they have yet to benefit from the country’s strong economic growth since 2002.
His campaign rhetoric—with pledges to increase state control of the economy and redistribute wealth by hiking taxes on mining companies with “excessive” profits—has rattled investors and many among Peru’s European-descended elite.
He also has faced allegations of human rights abuses, which he denies, as an army commander as Peru fought the Shining Path insurgency of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Humala went for an early morning jog shortly before the polls opened, telling reporters: “Today, with our vote, we have the chance to initiate a major transformation of our country.”
Humala has vowed that, if elected, he will industrialize production of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, and block an imminent free-trade agreement with United States—raising concern in Washington.
Peru is the world’s No. 2 cocaine producer after Colombia.
‘The dictatorship’
Humala’s fiery speeches railing against “the dictatorship” of the rich have resonated in a country where more than half the population lives on $1.25 a day or less.
“He’s exactly what this country needs—a military man with a strong hand to make things right and stand up for the little guy,” said Oscar Lopez, a street vendor in Lima.
Humala, 43, has not held elected office. He rose to prominence after leading a failed coup against former President Alberto Fujimori in 2000, months before corruption allegations and violent street protests toppled Fujimori’s government.
Recent polls showed Humala’s top two rivals, both seasoned politicians, trailing him by an increasingly narrow margin.
The Apoyo poll showed Humala with 27 percent and Garcia and Flores neck-and-neck for second place with 23 percent.
The new Apoyo poll did not address a possible second round. The nationwide survey of 3,892 potential voters was conducted on April 8 and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
A potential Garcia-Humala runoff would worry investors.
Garcia, 56, presided over economic turmoil and surging Shining Path rebel violence during his 1985-90 term. But his support rose in the campaign’s final days as he rallied his heartland in northern Peru.
Garcia promises to rewrite contracts with Peru’s private utilities and levy a windfall tax on mining companies.
Flores, 46, a lawyer who topped polls only months ago, has played up her potential role as Peru’s first female leader in a country weary of corruption and in which women are perceived as more honest.
In a second round, polls have indicated that Flores would defeat Humala but a Garcia-Humala run-off would be too close to call.
Nurse Elvira Choque, 29, who voted in a shantytown on Lima’s outskirts, said she was torn between Flores and Humala but eventually decided to support the former congresswoman, drawn by her personality.
“I voted for Lourdes but I wasn’t really convinced,” she said. “I’m looking for someone who is honest, will do what they promise and help generate jobs. I’m not sure any one of them is capable of that.
URL: msnbc.msn.com |
