Peru Turns Left
Humala Narrowly Edges out Fujimori
Yesterday on June 5, 2011, Peruvians home and abroad turned out for the much-anticipated run-off election between Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori. Almost 84 percent of registered voters came out to cast their ballots for the next president of Peru. According to two electoral polling firms, Ipsos-Apoyo and Datum International, Humala received just over 51 percent of the vote, compared to Keiko’s nearly 49 percent (as of Sunday evening). This is a historic election in Peruvian history, as Humala is the first democratically-elected leftist candidate to win the presidency. This election also marks a pivotal moment in U.S.-Latin American foreign policy; whether the U.S. plans to re-focus its policy in regards to the elections results remains to be seen. Famous author and politician, Mario Vargas Llosa, now claims that Humala’s victory “saved democracy” in Peru. Humala will assume office on July 28, 2011.
Humala and Fujimori: A Choice between Aids and Cancer
The Peruvian presidential election run-off featured two polarizing candidates: right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori and left-wing nationalist Ollanta Humala. Fujimori and Humala advanced from a first round of voting that consisted of three centrist candidates: former president Alejandro Toledo, former IMF economist Pedro Pablo Kucynski (PPK), and former Lima mayor Luis Castañeda. These three candidates were perceived to be too ideologically similar and therefore canceled each other’s votes out, paving the way for the two remaining candidates to face-off in the second round.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associates Carrie Burggraf and Mark Loyka.
Blog de Octavio Islas 