Humala claims victory in Peru elections, beating the Fujimori name

Former Peruvian military officer Ollanta Humala has been named the winner of Sunday's presidential election, news that briefly sent Peru's stock market into a jittery plunge, reports L.A. Times correspondent Tracy Wilkinson from Lima.

Humala ran strong among the poor in Peru, who have been left out of the country's strong economic growth in recent years. His opponent, Keiko Fujimori -- daughter of the disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori -- found much of her support among Peru's affluent establishment in Lima. Both had unpleasant historical legacies to overcome.

Fujimori in particular appeared unable to shake memories of the human-rights atrocities committed during her father's presidency and the war against the Shining Path. During the campaign, she was pressured into apologizing for the forced sterilization of an estimated 300,000 impoverished women -- yet kept the official in charge of that program by her side as an aide.

Many Peruvians told reporters they were fearful a vote for Keiko would be like a vote for her father. The elder Fujimori remains jailed in Peru on charges of corruption and human-rights abuses.

In Humala's previous run for the presidency, he was cast as a radical nationalist in the mold of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. This time around, he presented himself as a more moderate leftist, similar to the hugely popular former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. At one point, Humala even swore on a Bible that he would respect democracy and the Peruvian constitution.

"We won't expropriate even a dog," he said.

After stocks plunged on Monday, they bounced back on Tuesday as Humala promised he would maintain policies to keep up Peru's growth and seek to maintain strong ties with the United States. He assumes the presidency, for a five-year term, on July 28.

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City

Photo: Supporters of Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala rally before a campaign poster. Credit: Agence France-Presse

Comments

[well]

venezuela has reduced poverty more than any other country in the region, by far. they have increased access to health care more than most countries and increased people's happiness with democracy more than anyone in the region according to the well respected chilean polling firm latinobarometro. they have introduced a whole range of participatory measures that have given people direct power. the people have used these numerous times, a few against chavez. chavez has faced more elections (which were monitored and ok'd by endless amounts of groups, including the carter center. compare that to us darlings honduras and colombia). i could go on for some time here. lula did do some good things for brazilians, but brazil has immense amounts of resources and the poverty levels there, given that, were a scandal. as a result of humala putting more radical measures off the table right of the bat, not at least using them as a bargaining chip and bringing mass social movements into direct participation, i am guessing that there will be even less change than with lula. peru does have some natural resources, but has nothing near brazil (who does?). my guess is that he will be like funes in el salvador. better than a reactionary i guess.

[woobie]

The Peruvians have voted wisely.

Keiko Fujimori was grossly under-qualified to run Peru anyway and the stigma and reputation of her father will always be a brutal and sad part of this countries history.

[Native Angeleno]

Despite US media protestations otherwise, Peru and South America have turned further Left, boasting economies the US cannot match, with a strong brew of improvements to the lot of the impoverished, the continuation of FAIR market freedoms, not those of the "free" market sinking the titanic US economy, and a heady dose of door-shutting on the IMF and other institutions and influences formerly imposed on them by the multinational pigs who enjoy their deathgrip around the neck of the US.