[Marxism] Garcia, in electoral victory, denounces Venezuela

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Garcia, running on a hard "there is no alternative" program, will
certainly cooperate with Washington on all questions of substance.  He
will seek to take the offensive against the forces who challenged the
ruling elite which he always, with demagogic shifts here and there,
represented.  
 
I wonder if the army put up any obstacles to voting in the Cuzco region,
for example, where Quechua-speaking indigenous communities are
concentrated.
 
The big lack in Peru has been the lack of a broad popular movement
entrenched almost since independence.  But it is possible that the
election campaign itself will mark the beginning of such a movement.
The road ahead for Garcia (and, more importantly) his US masters does
not look smooth in Peru.
 
I look forward to the comments of Hugo Blanco, among others, on what is
happening.  Especially since Blanco now lives once again in the peasant
regions where he once led an historic Quechua rebellion,
Fred

 
 
 
 
June 5, 2006

Ex-President Wins in Peru in Stunning Comeback 

By
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/juan_forer
o/index.html?inline=nyt-per> JUAN FORERO

LIMA,
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritorie
s/peru/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> Peru, June 4 ? Sixteen years after his
presidency ended in economic collapse and heightened guerrilla violence,
Alan García was elected president again on Sunday, completing one of
Latin America's most astonishing political resurrections.

With 77 percent of the vote tabulated, electoral authorities said Mr.
García had captured more than 55 percent of the vote versus 44 percent
for his opponent, Ollanta Humala, an upstart nationalist who promised to
redistribute the country's wealth.

Mr. García, 57, who once faced corruption charges and ended his first
presidency in disgrace, sounded a note of contrition during a
spellbinding victory speech before a throng of supporters.

"A new path to victory and responsibility has been open to the Apristas
as a result of the generosity of the people and the will of God," he
said, referring to his party, the APRA. "No one can reach power if you
do not accept and open your heart before God and admit the errors that
you are guilty of."

He added, "I do not want an ephemeral victory."

Voters had seen the race as an unappealing choice between a former
president whose first administration had been an unmitigated disaster
and a former army officer who once led a military rebellion. But voters
saw Mr. García as the lesser of two evils. "It is sad, but what can we
do?" said Víctor Rondoy, 48, an electrical engineer, moments after
voting for Mr. García. "At least García will be more democratic."

Mr. García's return is one of the most startling in a region where
former presidents, even those who left in disgrace, have returned to
power years later. His rule from 1985 to 1990 was characterized by
four-digit inflation, food scarcity, rampant corruption and growing
violence by the rebel group Shining Path.

Mr. Humala, 43, the latest in a line of populist leaders who have surged
across the region, criticized foreign multinationals for exploiting
Peru's vast mineral resources and railed against corrupt politicians.

Though the administration of the outgoing president,
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/alejandro_
toledo/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Alejandro Toledo, had registered
strong economic growth, Mr. Humala was able to capitalize on widespread
disenchantment because many Peruvians believed that the nation's wealth
had failed to trickle down. In the first round of voting on April 9,
Peruvians gave Mr. Humala the most votes in a field of 20 candidates and
making his party the biggest in Congress.

But Mr. García, who finished second, was well positioned after the first
round because many Peruvians who had supported the third-place finisher,
Lourdes Flores, flocked to him instead of Mr. Humala.

Mr. García gained even more traction after Venezuela's populist
president,
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/hugo_chave
z/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Hugo Chávez, endorsed Mr. Humala, setting
off an angry diplomatic spat. His effort to help Mr. Humala seemed to
backfire because Mr. García rose in the polls in recent weeks. On Sunday
night, Mr. García seemed to relish the setback to Mr. Chávez, who had
spoken of an alliance with an Humala government as part of his bulwark
against American influence in the region.

"Tonight, the country has sent a message of sovereignty and national
independence and defeated Mr. Hugo Chávez's efforts to incorporate us in
his expansionist strategy," said Mr. García, whose victory is sure to
please the Bush administration.

Contrasting sharply with his earlier persona, Mr. García has said that
prosperity would come only through trade and investments. But he has
also pledged to emphasize economic development, from protecting farmers
from the effects of a free-trade agreement with the United States to
providing aid to small businesses.

To be sure, he continues to display flourishes of the populism that made
him a darling of the international left in the 1980's, raising questions
about which Alan García will emerge when he takes office at the end of
July.

"Everyone can see that he's brilliant politician, that he's extremely
persuasive," said Cynthia McClintock, a Peru specialist at George
Washington University. "But will he be able to focus, control his
demons, control corruption, the things he obviously wasn't able to do in
his first government."

Many of those who voted for Mr. García did so with clear recollections
of his first presidency, from the long food lines to the infamous intis,
the currency printed to keep up with inflation. "This really bothers me,
but I support Alan," said one voter, Rosa María Espinosa. "It is worse
to be with the one you do not know than the one you know."


 
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