Leftist may win Peru vote, but runoff likely (Today.)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Leftist may win Peru vote, but runoff likely
1 hour 51 mins ago

Lower-income voters are expected to hand left-wing nationalist Ollanta Humala victory in the first round of Peru's presidential election on Sunday, but he could struggle to win a runoff against a rival backed by the business community. Skip related content

Humala, a former army officer who has moderated his tone since narrowly losing the 2006 race, leads by as much as 10 points over three more market-friendly candidates who are in a tight race for second place, the latest polls show.

Vying for a spot in the June 5 runoff in one of the world's fastest-growing economies are former President Alejandro Toledo, former Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and lawmaker Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori. Polls show her with a narrow grip on second place.

They have sought to dampen Humala's chances by saying he would step up state control over the economy, rolling back reforms and jeopardizing some $40 billion (24 billion pounds) of foreign investment lined up for the next decade in mining and energy exploration.


Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20110410/tpl-uk-peru-election-20b2d2f.html

[blueclown]

1. Moderated his tone?

Why do leftists always "moderate their tone", while right-wingers can be just as bat crazy as they'd like?

[quakerboy]

2. I wonder what they mean by that phrase

This is a guy who led an unsuccessfull rebellion against a former president, who's brother is in jail for kidnapping 17 police officers and killing 4 of them, and who's mother has called for the killing of homosexuals. And who is a Bolivarian.

At least according to Wikipedia.

So which part did he moderate?

[Judi Lynn]

4. I'm taking this opportunity to share with DU'ers the story behind the revolt which you're waving

under their noses.

Concerning Ollanta Humala's "unsuccessful rebellion against a former president", people should know it was against a monstrous, murderous a-hole, a complete vicious fool who sits in prison now for his crimes against humanity.

From a BBC News artile on Humala:

Thursday, 2 November, 2000, 19:45 GMT
Bid to end Peru rebellion peacefully

~snip~
Colonel Humala staged the revolt to demand an end to Mr Fujimori's controversial presidency and the arrest of his former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, who returned to Peru last week after seeking asylum in Panama.

~snip~
Colonel Humala's case has elicited considerable support among some sectors of the media and the public.
The influential left-wing daily, La Republica, hailed him as "valiant and decisive, unlike most in Peru".

"Humala has put into practice the right of all Peruvians to refuse to obey a usurping power which is immoral and illegitimate," the daily said.

"Rebel with a cause, fuelled by ethical and political right, Humala is the conscience of Peru."

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1003981.stm

~~~~~
Small details concerning the President against who Humala led a rebellion:

Former third man from the top of the Peruvian army hierarchy says Fujimori is guilty of sanctioning death squad
May 8, 2008 by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES

The former third highest ranking officer in Peru’s army testified yesterday that ex-President Alberto Fujimori is directly to blame for the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres, carried out by the Colina group paramilitary death squad.

“The President of the Republic, in this case the accused, Fujimori, is the one who decides what type of war will be waged,” retired army Gen. Rodolfo Robles told the court. “That is why it is said that war is the continuation of politics via violent means.”

~snip~
In a May 5, 1993, open letter written by Robles and read aloud in a news conference by his wife, he revealed the names of the soldiers who made up the Colina group. He stated they had machine gunned 15 people, including an 8-year-old boy, in a squalid tenement building in Lima’s Barrios Altos district in 1991 and kidnapped and murdered nine students and one professor at La Cantuta University in 1992.

At the time, he identified Fujimori’s shadowy intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, and the Commander in Chief of the Army, General Nicolás de Bari Hermoza Ríos as the masterminds of the operations and of the subsequent cover-up.

More:
http://www.peruviantimes.com/08/former-third-man-from-the-top-of-the-peruvian-army-hierarchy-says-fujimori-is-guilty-of-sanctioning-death-squad/360/

~~~~~
As for his childhood family, it was discussed repeatedly during the last election here at D.U., when a few wingers attempted to slur him by throwing them in our faces. He had made public statements long ago concerning their politics, told people he couldn't be responsible for their ideas, and said they in no way had any influence in the way he thinks, whatsoever.

We knew all about that long, long ago. Didn't impress anyone then, either.

[quakerboy]

7. Hold up

I am not waving anything. I knew nothing about this fellow. I went and read Wikipedia. "we" did not all know about it. I know next to nothing.

Hopefully a good solid leftist will win and take that country in a good direction. If he is that man, good on him.

[David__77]

5. Is he responsible for his mother or brother?

Blood line doesn't carry ideology or politics.

[ozone_man]

3. To get elected?

I know what you mean though. There is a time for concessions and a time to stand firm. I wish we had a president who would not cave in to every right wing issue. Or maybe it is not caving at all. Who would have thought a Democrat could ever be this far right? South America is very hopeful though, while the U.S. is still distracted in the middle east.

[Imajika]

6. Right wingers "moderate" their tone all the time to get elected...

Both sides do this. If the political atmosphere is such that a right winger doesn't think he can win, he will simply hide the most radical elements of his/her agenda.

The left does it too. Most politicians do this to some degree.