Peru votes in divisive battle of the populists
| Lima, Peru
Peruvians are flocking to the polls to pick a new president today in the closest and most polarized election in the country鈥檚 modern history.
Congresswoman Keiko Fujimori 鈥� conservative daughter of former right-wing President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and human rights abuses 鈥� ended the race in a statistical tie with retired military officer Ollanta Humala, with the final surveys giving the left-leaning populist a slight edge.
鈥淭his is the closest election we have seen in Peru and the country is evenly divided,鈥� says Fernando Tuesta, head of the Catholic University of Peru鈥檚 Public Opinion Institute, pointing out that Mr. Humala and Ms. Fujimori were the two with the highest negative ratings of the 11 candidates that competed in the first round of voting on April 10.
Both opposing populists have ratcheted up negative campaign tactics in the run-up to today's vote, each seeking to paint the other as a puppet and saving their major artillery for the supposed puppet masters: the imprisoned Mr. Fujimori and Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Ch谩vez.
A surrogate of her father?
The Humala campaign has portrayed Fujimori as a surrogate of her father, who served as president from 1990-2000. His image secured her passage into the runoff, but it might be the final reason why she loses.
Ms. Fujimori began her campaign with a pledge to pardon him. She has since dropped that idea, but it is his 10-year regime, which the anti-corruption group Transparency International called a 鈥渒leptocracy,鈥� that weighs heavy in the campaign.
鈥淲e are running against the corrupt government of the 1990s. Alberto Fujimori chose the team and his son and daughter are representing him,鈥� said Humala recently.
The presidential candidate鈥檚 younger brother, Kenji, was elected to Congress in April. He was the most voted candidate in Lima, the capital. An uncle, Santiago, failed in his re-election bid.
A puppet of Hugo Ch谩vez?
The Fujimori campaign also has its boogeyman, maintaining until the final minute of the campaign that Humala is nothing more than a puppet of Mr. Ch谩vez.
鈥淲e are a Peruvian project and Peruvians will govern, not a Venezuelan president. We are not part of a Bolivarian project controlled by Hugo Ch谩vez,鈥� Fujimori said during her closing rally on June 2.
This is not the first time that the figure of Ch谩vez has hurt Humala鈥檚 campaign. The Venezuelan president was a visible figure in Humala鈥檚 2006 presidential bid, which he lost by a whisker to current President Alan Garc铆a.
Humala has put distance between himself and Ch谩vez, telling foreign reporters on June 3 that the Venezuelan model was wrong for Peru, but the allegations keep coming.
The most recent charge came from Washington, with a former US assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, Roger Noriega, claiming that Ch谩vez has financed Humala's current campaign. Noriega did not provide any proof and Humala categorically denied it.
Catholic University鈥檚 Tuesta says whoever wins will have to work immediately to lower the tone of the campaign and find common ground.
鈥淏oth candidates face strong resistance," he says, "but we will have a winner and the first thing he or she will have to deal with is the polarization of this campaign.鈥�
