Peruvian Politics

Last Sunday night marked the conclusion of what was arguably the most vicious and polarizing presidential campaign in Peruvian history.

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.

Haves and have nots

For those of us venturing outside the United States or Western Europe for the first time the sight of abject poverty is absolutely striking. Having seen the south side of Chicago I thought I had seen poverty and marginalization in its worst form. I clearly had no idea. Millions of people living without running water, on dirt floors, in areas where even the police rarely venture into is a totally different ballgame.

In Latin America particularly, the contrasts between the relative few who live comfortably and those who don't is perhaps even more jaw-dropping.

The view from my bedroom window at the apartment where I stayed.

Walking around my neighborhood.

The periphery of Lima (about 2 million people live in areas like this) about 10 minutes by car from my neighborhood. (Taken from a bus as I left the city.)

 About 20 minutes outside Lima.

Nearly 1/3 of Peruvians live on less than $2 a day. Needless to say, figuring out how to take steps to close the wealth gap (no, Hugo Chavez's "socialism" is not the right answer) was one of the major issues in last Sunday's Presidential Election.

If anything, these photos can serve as a bucket of cold water to the face for those of us who think we have it "rough".

Pachacamac

Although I couldn't make it to Puno, Cusco, or any of the other indigenous culture hotspots I did make the short trip to the ruins of Pachacamac about 40 minutes south of Lima.

One of the more interesting things I learned during this trip was that the Incas (the indigenous group most of us are familiar with) actually had a relatively short period as the dominant civilization in Peru. The Incas ruled Peru for less than 100 years compared to their predecessors the Wari (520 years) and the Lima (350). When asked by my friend Andrea (a Peruvian girl who I met in Barcelona and reconnected with in Peru) about what I knew about pre-Columbian Peruvian history I responded "the Incas", to which she replied "well then you really don't know much".

Pachacamac (Earth-Maker in Quechua) was the main god worshiped by the Wari and Lima people. It's was wooden pole about 6 feet tall and its head had one face on each side symbolizing his ability to constantly observe what was happening. Interestingly, when the Incas took over Peru they didn't destroy Pachacamac (the Spaniards would take care of that about 75 years later) but rather allowed the Waris to continue worshiping it even though the Incas had their own set of gods.

So there's your Peruvian history lesson of the day. Here are a few shots from the visit.

Getting caught up on Peru

Without internet access where I was staying it was hard to keep this ole blog up to date while in Peru so the next several entries will cover my adventures there...

An admission

This post goes out to all the people who I've snobbishly lectured about how fashionably reprehensible it is for men to wear shorts and that you will never see me wearing them unless I'm at the beach or playing sports.

When the heat index hit 114 degrees today I went running (actually it was a very slow walk while trying to stay in the shade) to the nearest clothes store as fashion snobbery gave way to common sense. 

Cartagena, Colombia

I know I'm way behind on blog entries but I did want to quickly inform my loyal blog followers that I have just begun phase two of this little journey arriving last night in amazing Cartagena, Colombia on the Carribean coast.

First impressions are very positive in spite of the fact that 92 degrees (current temp) and humid is a pretty abrupt change from cool, cloudy Lima.

Did a little exploring this morning and it was nice to see that the locals haven't forgotten the memorable trip that Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and others made here in the late 1980's.

(it's a little hard to see but this particular Jewerly shop is having a 40% off "Romancing the Stone" sale.)

Too hot to be in the street now so I'm going to follow the local tradition of having a little siesta until it cools down later this afternoon at which point I'll do more exploring and probably visit the famous Museum of the Inquisition.

More to come later including the backlogged Peru entries.

Sand dunes in Huacachina

If flying down a 50 meter sand dune head first on a piece of plastic is on your bucket list you'll have to make your way to Huacachina, Peru, about 4 hours south of Lima.

More than a town, Huacachina is a conglomeration of restaurants, hotels, and bars that surround a desert lagoon. When not eating or taking part in nightlife activities the main source of entertainment is flying around the sand dunes in a buggy and riding down said dunes in either snowboard or sled-style. 

Happy to report that I made it through the weekend with only a few dune-related bumps and bruises and mild sunburn. 

More to come soon!