Peruvians Favor Ollanta Humala for President in First Round of Elections

Last year, when he first entered politics, few took Ollanta Humala’s presidential bid seriously. Now, the retired lieutenant colonel who supports coca legalization and speaks of “the progressive forces in the region that are building a great Latin American family,” and of his wish to join “a new generation of leaders that have in common the search for an alternative to the neoliberal model” has come out on top in the first round of Peru’s presidential elections. Results are still coming in from yesterday’s voting, but Humala’s margin seems to be only growing over his opponents. Now, reports Prensa Latina, with 67 percent of the votes counted, Humala leads with 28.7 percent. Exit polls place his support even higher, and his support is strong in rural, indigenous parts of the country that often take longer to report in their results. Trailing behind him are conservative candidates Lourdes Flores with 25.8 percent, and Alan García with 25.1 percent; it is still not clear who will follow Humala to the second, run-off round.

Both conservative candidates face major obstacles in convincing the public for its support. Flores is the candidate supporting and supported by current president Alejandro Toledo, one of the least popular presidents in the world according to opinion polls. Alan García was president of Peru from 1985 to 1990, and the country was plunged into a financial crisis that cleared the way for the narco-dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori and Vladimiro Montesinos.

After years of disappointment from both elected politicians and right-wing coupsters, the Peruvian people, having endured decades of the drug war and other impositions from Washington, seem ready for a change.

Of course, even if Humala does manage a victory, he will have to prove that he is not another Lucio Gutiérrez, a military man riding the tide of popular discontent with traditional politics into office only to turn his back on the popular forces that were responsible for his victory.

There is also concern over recent accusations of human rights violations by Humala during his service in Fujimori’s war on the “Shining Path” guerrillas. Whether or not these allegations are true, they have suspiciously surfaced only now, years after the fact, just in time to damage his presidential aspirations. And as Jeremy Bigwood reported recently, these accusations come from a with close ties to and receiving funding from USAID and NED, the U.S. agencies now infamous for their meddling in Venezuelan politics.

We will keep a close eye on this race as it enters the second round…