Runoff likely to decide Peruvian presidential race

In the days leading up to Peru’s presidential elections Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa said that selecting Ollanta Humala or Keiko Fujimori would be like “choosing between cancer and AIDS.” after yesterday’s election it appears that Vargas Llosa’s remarks were not only exaggerative but also prophetic.

With approximately 80% of the vote counted, Peruvian electoral officials reported that Humala leads with a plurality of 30.5% of the vote. He will likely miss obtaining a majority to skip the runoff and his second round rival appears to be Fujimori who has gradually widened her slim advantage over third-place Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Both Humala and Fujimori have tried to distance themselves from past baggage that has harmed their respective candidacies. Four years ago, Humala would lose in the runoff to Alan Garcia after he portrayed himself as a firebrand revolutionary a la Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. This time around, however, Humala he has distanced himself from Chavez and tried to portray himself as a moderate leftist similar to ex-Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Fujimori is the daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori and this has served as both an advantage and a hindrance. On the one hand, her candidacy appealed to followers of her father who view him as a savior after Garcia’s disastrous first term in the presidency. Yet the imprisoned former leader is also a reviled figure due to a massive corruption scandal during his presidency and numerous human rights abuses committed by the military. Thus, Keiko has backed away from rumors that she would give her dad a pardon should she win the presidency.

Though Humala and Fujimori reportedly have support among lower-income Peruvians frustrated at the lack of economic equality, each candidate will need to appeal to certain voting blocs that may prove to be key in the runoff. For instance, moderate voters who backed former economy minister Kuczynski or ex-president Alejandro Toledo will likely have a hard time picking between Humala or Fujimori. The youth vote may prove to be decisive such as the over six million voters aged between 18 and 29.

Over 754,000 Peruvian voters reside abroad and according to early results Kuczynski holds a comfortable lead among expats over Humala and Fujimori. In the video below, Peruvian voters living in Spain went to the polls yesterday though a few complained of irregularities in the voting process:

Online Sources- Mercopress, ONPE, Xinhua, NPR, U.S. News and World Report, TeleSUR, LAHT
Video Source – Europa Press via YouTube

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2011

* Peru: Ex-President Alejandro Toledo’s lead in the presidential polls narrowed against populist candidate Ollanta Humala.

* Chile: A Florida court sentenced Dannie Roy Baker to five life sentences for the shooting deaths of two Chilean exchange students in February 2009.

* Cuba: Pugilist Odlanier Solis was jeered by the crowd after losing to Vitali Klitschko in the first round of their heavyweight boxing title fight on Saturday.

* Colombia: Nine people were sentenced to forty years in prison for the murder of former paramilitary leader Carlos Castano.

Image – Reuters via Peru21
Online Sources- La Tercera, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC News

Wikileaks targets LatAm

The media furor over Wikileaks may have mellowed out but the muckraking website continues to uncover hundreds of interesting diplomatic cables and documents. Latin America has not been an exception to this and Wikileaks targeted several countries in the past few days.

Colombia

Colombia daily El Espectador published dozens of documents uncovered by Wikileaks over the past week. According to El Espectador the cables revealed that “the U.S. embassy became a confessional booth” once the para-politics corruption scandal broke out in 2006. One cable from that year revealed that Mario Uribe, senator and cousin to then-President Alvaro Uribe, was eager to meet with U.S. Ambassador William Wood and dissuade him from revoking his visa. (Mario was sentenced yesterday to nearly eight years in prison for his strong ties to the rightist paramilitaries).

Speaking of the former leader, several diplomatic documents revealed that U.S. diplomats were for the most part were content with Uribe’s actions in the para-politics ordeal. He “strongly supported judicial investigations of paramilitary-political ties” according to one 2006 memo after Uribe met with Wood. Wood’s successor, William Brownfield, praised Uribe in 2009 for pledging to “fully investigate” another scandal involving illegal wiretapping by Colombia’s intelligence agency (DAS).

According to other cables there were occasions when the ties between Uribe and U.S. diplomats were not always rosy. Another 2009 cable showed that the U.S. government tried to push Uribe to dismantle the DAS, an action that has yet to be taken. In 2006 Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns personal warned Uribe that reintegration programs of paramilitaries have not materialized” and that some of them are “returning to crime”. (Several of these former fighters would go on to form the base of the so-called “bandas criminales”, emerging narcotrafficking groups that have allied with leftist guerillas).

Chile

The Chilean government’s worries over the Middle East were the focus of several diplomatic documents uncovered by Wikileaks. A 2008 cable showed that Chile and Israel were both very worried over Iran’s ties to Venezuela. According to the document, Israel’s military attaché in Chile worked “with Chile's Investigative Police and 'other agencies' (presumably Chile's Intelligence Agency)” in order to spy on Iranian activities. 


Other cables from the U.S. embassy in Santiago showed that they were concerned with the presence of Hezbollah and similar groups among Chile’s small Islamic fundamentalist community. One 2006 document alleged that a "radical fundamentalist presence" was found in the city of Iquique and that “Hezbollah groups in the northern part of Chile are believed to be financial cells.”

Peruvian daily “El Comercio” revealed another memo via Wikileaks on an international court case between Peru and Chile. An unnamed Chilean diplomat in the 2008 cable worried that The Hague would “grant concessions to Peru” in a maritime border case based on previous rulings including one that year between Nicaragua and Colombia.

Speaking of Peru…

Peru

A 2005 document revealed that the ex-minister former interior minister Fernando Rospigliosi met with U.S. embassy officials where he expressed his “concerns” against “ultranationalist” Ollanta Humala. Along ex-Director of National Defense Ruben Vargas, Rospigliosi suggested several ways to counter the former presidential candidate including that “the Embassy consider supporting an anti-Humala communications program.”

Rospigliosi responded in an editorial published today alleging that his meeting with embassy officials was necessary and not “antidemocratic”. “Due to this ‘intromission of international governments’ (like Venezuela and Cuba), he decided to ‘balance out’ the situation and talk with the U.S. diplomats,” according to a Living in Peru article on Rospigliosi.

Aside from Rospigliosi, Wikileaks also revealed another cable alleging that Inti Gas soccer club president Rofilio Neyra received funds from drug traffickers. The politician, allied with political sectors loyal to disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori, supposedly received the tainted money during a 2006 campaign for local office.

Brazil

Lastly, Brazil’s growing economic and political clout in the Americas was a source of concern for Paraguay. Ex foreign affairs minster Leila Rachid told U.S. diplomats in 2005 that she was worried over Brazilian efforts “to minimize US influence in South America”. She opposed this perceived assertion of “Brazilian dominance” that could’ve lead to “unfettered Brazilian control of Paraguay’s destiny”.

Image- The Globe and Mail
Online Sources- La Republica, Living in Peru, El Pais, UPI, La Tercera, AFP, MercoPress, BBC News, El Espectador, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: February 8, 2011

* Brazil: China's undervalued currency was likely one of the topics discussed when U.S. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner met with Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff yesterday.

* Ecuador: “Prominent U.S. law firm” Patton Boggs accused Chevron of backing a smear campaign in order to prevent them from being involved in a multibillion dollar Ecuadorian environmental damages trial.

* Haiti: Ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide could soon return from exile after authorities reportedly granted him a passport.

* Peru: Former president Alejandro Toledo widened his lead in the polls with roughly two months left until Peru’s presidential election.

Image – Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian (“US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner and Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff during their meeting on Monday.”)
Online Sources- The Guardian, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Bloomberg

Peru: Presidential candidate clarifies drug remarks

In Peru’s last presidential election former leader Alan Garcia won in a tight race against populist candidate Ollanta Humala. Another contentious election is expected this April with a group of candidates is vying to succeed Garcia. One of them is ex-president Alejandro Toledo and he has touted his credentials as a social progressive candidate. The results so far have been mixed.

In a speech on Thursday Toledo reportedly said that he would consider decriminalizing certain forms of drug use if ejected president. "Depenalizing is an alternative that must be looked at," he said according to Reuters and he warned that Peru could become a “narco-state” unless corruption is stopped.

Toledo's conservative rivals blasted his comments; Keiko Fujimori, congresswoman and daughter of disgraced jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, claimed that “legalizing drugs would mean the end of society.” Meanwhile, Justice Minister Rosario Fernandez said that decriminalizing “only leads to greater support for narcotrafficking.”

The resulting political firestorm caused Toledo to attempt to clarify his "misinterpreted" comments to the Peruvian press this morning. He noted that a U.N. panel of former South American presidents are studying the effects of decriminalizing drug use and he added that he “fully condemns the consumption of drugs”:

A recant poll indicated that a plurality of voters back Toledo but only by a slim margin ahead of Fujimori and ex-Lima mayor Luis Castaneda. All three have promised to follow current economic policies that have spurred growth and investment. On social issues each candidate has tried to differentiate themselves from each other; for instance, Toledo recently said that he would back same-sex marriage if elected. They do coincide on a few points, however, such as Toledo and Keiko backing abortion in the case that the mother is raped.

Video Source- La Republica via YouTube
Online Sources- Reuters, Wikipedia, Bloomberg, Gayopolis, Peru21, La Republica, RPP

Daily Headlines: January 17, 2011

* Brazil: As seen in the above video from Al Jazeera English, hundreds of people in southeastern Brazil who survived massive flooding and mudslides face an uncertain future.

* Honduras: The wild weather has also affected Honduras where authorities evacuated approximately 2000 people from coastal areas.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez claimed that he would cut the period of Congressionally approved decree powers from eighteen months to possibly four.

* South America: Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar and Spain's Marc Coma won in the car and motorcycle categories, respectively, of the Dakar Rally that was held in Argentina and Chile.

* Peru: Ex-President Alejandro Toledo leads a crowded field of presidential hopefuls according to one recent poll.

Video Source – Al Jazeera English via YouTube
Online Sources- CNN, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: November 11, 2010

* Latin America: Freedom of the press throughout Latin America has come under fire due to increased authoritarianism and violence according to the Inter American Press Association.

* Dominican Republic: Three former Chicago White Sox employees have been accused of receiving kickbacks from the signing bonuses of over twenty Latin American ballplayers.

* Peru: Ex-president Alejandro Toledo joined an already crowded field of candidates seeking the presidency in next year’s elections.

* El Salvador: At least sixteen people died due to a fire in an El Salvador juvenile prison while eighteen inmates were killed during a Brazilian prison riot.

Image – China Daily (“Mexican policemen stand guard next to remains of a parked vehicle outside a studio of top broadcaster Televisa in Ciudad Victoria, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas August 27, 2010.”)
Online Sources- Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, SI.com, Living in Peru, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera English