海角大神

Peruvian voters elected leftist leader Alan Garc铆a to a five-year term on Sunday, returning the former president to office 16 years after his first stint.

It is a tough defeat for Ollanta Humala, the populist candidate who won the first round less than two months ago. But it is also a blow to Venezuelan leader and US nemesis Hugo Ch谩vez, who openly backed Mr. Humala.

In his election-night address, Mr. Garc铆a said the result is "a defeat for the expansionist efforts of [Mr. Ch谩vez]. Peru's democracy said 'no' to him."

Garc铆a's "rhetorical challenges to Hugo Ch谩vez are very welcome to a US government that would very much like allies in the region against Ch谩vez," says Cynthia McClintock, a professor at George Washington University in Washington and specialist on Peru.

In his final campaign swing, Garc铆a offered to lead a regional alliance to contain Ch谩vez, saying that it is time for the region to stand up to his "petrodollars and imperialism." He envisions a center-left bloc with the leaders of Brazil, Chile, and other nations as a response to a more radical left-wing option pushed by Ch谩vez and Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Ch谩vez's brand of left-wing populism has won over newly elected Bolivian Presi- dent Evo Morales, who recently moved to nationalize his country's gas industry, and is rolling out plans for land reform similar to those Ch谩vez has implemented in Venezuela. Hoping for a similar result in Peru, Ch谩vez backed Humala.

But this support backfired when Garc铆a, knowing that Ch谩vez enjoys little sympathy in Peru - only 13 percent of Peruvians have a favorable opinion of Ch谩vez in polls - seized on the opportunity and began portraying Humala as a Ch谩vez puppet.

Ch谩vez is also actively backing Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega's presidential bid in Nicaragua.

It remains to be seen whether Chavez's support will help or hurt Mr. Ortega, but there is evidence Ch谩vez has harmed populist Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador's chances in Mexico's July 2 presidential election. Analysts in Mexico credit a negative ad campaign comparing L贸pez Obrador to Ch谩vez with a sharp drop in L贸pez Obrador's poll numbers last month. Until then, he had been holding a comfortable lead.

But Garc铆a will most likely have to forget about Ch谩vez while getting ready to take office on July 28. He will soon have to make good on a list of promises while steering clear of the populist measures that doomed his first presidency in the 1980s.

"We have to have an impact within the first few months in office. If not, we will lose the support of the population," says Enrique Cornejo, principal economic adviser to Garc铆a and his APRA party.

Garc铆a's come-from-behind victory in the runoff caps a long road to political rehabilitation that began when he left office in 1990 with only 7 percent support after presiding over what was by all accounts one of the worst administrations in modern Peruvian history.

During Garc铆a's first presidency, economic collapse spawned political violence at the hands of two guerrilla groups and fueled a drug-trafficking boom.

He spent most of the 1990s out of the country, living in political exile in Colombia and France after his successor, Alberto Fujimori, tried to have him arrested on corruption charges. He returned to Peru in 2001, narrowly losing the presidency then to Alejandro Toledo.

In the meantime he adopted the more moderate center-left tendency that has swept through South America in recent years. He sees himself cut from the same cloth as Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile's Michelle Bachelet.

This time, Garc铆a takes office during Peru's longest economic boom in decades.

But more than half of Peru's 27 million people live in poverty and they have grown impatient with empty promises. Humala, a left-wing nationalist who promised radical change, won in the country's poorest areas, capturing nearly 80 percent of the votes in impoverished southern highlands.

Garc铆a promised rapid action during the campaign. He pledged to connect 500,000 homes in Lima to the city's water grid, offered low-income loans for farmers and fishermen. Most of all, he has promised to grow the economy by 7 percent annually to stimulate job creation. Employment is the No. 1 concern of Peruvians in public-opinion polls. Only 30 percent of Peru's workforce is adequately employed on payrolls and with social benefits.

"I voted for Garc铆a because he offered the more serious alternative. I hope he carries out his promises," said electrician Jos茅 Luis Contreras after casting his ballot. "People don't want to hear that the economy is growing, but want to feel it in their pockets."

Garc铆a has also tried to assure the business community that he is not the same free-spending, money-printing populist of the 1980s. "Our message has been responsible change. We are going to reduce poverty and inequality, but do it respecting economic management," says Rep. C茅sar Zumaeta, who won reelection to Congress with Garc铆a's APRA.

But Garc铆a faces a tough political climate.

Humala's Union for Peru party won 45 out of 120 seats in the Congress and his huge margins in the country's poorest areas will give him leverage to keep the pressure on Garc铆a as an opposition leader.

Garc铆a's party recognizes the challenge. "[Voters] want responsible, austere management and a solution to the country's problems," says Mr. Cornejo. "We must deliver."