Peruvians were faced with the option of choosing between Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala or, as Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa put it, having to decide "between AIDS and terminal cancer".
If the name Fujimori sounds familiar it's because Keiko is the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, currently incarcerated in Peru for massive corruption and human rights violations during his mandate which lasted from 1990 until his downfall in 2000.
Ollanta Humala is a former military officer known for his close ties to Hugo Chavez and his advocacy for strong nationalist policies (see "anti-Western/American).
In the end, Humala prevailed with 52% of the vote and he will be the president of Peru for the next five years.
Peru has experienced unprecedented economic growth in the last 10 years (a 7.5% increase this year alone) and the World Bank and IMF both said (prior to the elections) that if the next president were to continue the economic policies of the last decade Peru would experience the highest rate of economic growth in Latin America over the next 5 years. Although Humala has promised not to implement any radical economic policies the Peruvian stock market experienced a record decline the Monday after the elections, indicative perhaps that investors are very uncertain.
One positive from the election (for me at least) was that I got my hands on some pretty cool electoral propaganda in the form of a Keiko notebook and an Ollanta book of matches.
It is worth to bear in mind that Humala's original government platform called for changing the constitution to give the state a stronger role in the economy, including its ports and pension system... that sounds very Hugo Chavez to me, yak! (such measures limited Venezuelan growth).
ResponderEliminarThe Peruvian central bank unexpectedly paused for the first time in six months, but that is almost natural. Many companies have placed investment projects on hold, they are waiting for clear signals on how Humala will manage the economy (like ministerial appointments and future policies).
But well, I am glad that you got your electoral propaganda, it looks cool! It makes me even happier to know that you didn't give them a vote after having received this type of things :)