One aspect of my experience that I haven't really taken the time to mention yet has been having the opportunity to see the Peruvian election unfold over the course of the first month of my placement. Seeing as the final results of the run-off election to determine who the newest leader of Peru will be are currently being tallied, now seemed like a good chance to share my glimpse into Peruvian politics.
When I arrived in Peru, it was a few weeks after the first round of polling, and the fact that the country was in the middle of an election could not have been more obvious. When I arrived in Juliaca, and along the entire ride to Puno on my first morning, I was immediately struck by the number of political advertisements. There, and the majority of places I've been since (although much less so in privileged districts of Lima), ads are spray painted directly on the side of houses, buildings and fences, like political graffiti. One tour guide told me people were paid for the space, but others told me it was voluntary, so I'm not sure who to believe.
In Peru (and the majority of Latin America), elections occur in two rounds. The top-two vote getters in the first round of polling are pit against each other in a run-off election to determine who will lead the country. With the first round complete, it had already been determined that the run-off election would be between Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori. For those familiar with Peruvian politics, the intrigue of a match-up between these two candidates is immediately apparent, but for those of you who are less familiar, I'll give a brief run-down of the basics. If the name Fujimori sounds familiar, its because you've probably heard of Keiko's father, Alberto. He was the president of Peru from 1990-2000, and a controversial figure to say the least. He may have managed to crack down on the Shining Path movement, and bring some economic stability to Peru, but he ruled with an authoritarian iron fist, ran a government rampant with corruption and human rights abuses (see: death squads). In 2000, he fled the country, but he was (finally) extradited to face criminal charges in 2007, and convicted in 2009 (sentenced to 25 years for human rights abuses, and 7 1/2 for embezzlement). And now his daughter, running on a platform including giving her father a pardon, is a leading presidential candidate. Ollanta Humala has a less dramatic and violent family history (although his brother attempting to orchestrate a coup against the Toledo government in the early 2000s), yet still is well known in Peru. He was the runner-up in the 2006 election to Alan Garcia, at the time portraying himself as part of Latin America's New Left Turn, and emphasizing a close relationship with other leftist leaders in the region, drawing many comparisons to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In this election he has backed off of this portrayal in an attempt to appear more moderate, to some degree of success.
The election has been incredibly interesting to watch, and it has been a hotly contested race. Over the past few weeks, Keiko had been leading the polls, but in the last few days Ollanta had gained back a bit of the ground he had lost. Now, according to exit polls, Ollanta is projected to be the next president, leading with 51.7% of the vote to Keiko's 48.3%. I've loved being here to see the election unfold, and feel lucky that my time in Peru happened to fall on this once-every-5-years experience. Not living in Peru or spending enough time here to appreciate the full complexity of the debate has made me more of a spectator than commentator on the candidates, but I have to say that I'm glad Ollanta is leading. It will be interesting to possibly watch his presidency over the course of the next few years, and monitor what impact his commitment to social justice has on poverty in Peru.
edit* I forgot to mention that in Peru they have a law where no alcohol can be served in the country over the span of the election weekend (from noon Friday until noon Monday). Preventing people from drunk voting and drunk rioting? Perhaps Canada needs this law based on the fact that intoxication HAD to play a role in electing a Conservative majority government.
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