Peruvian General Election

[Dimentio]

What could we await from Peru if Ollanta Humala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollanta_Humala) is winning the elections?

[mosfeld]

Genocide for Peruvians, as always.

[Sadena Meti]

Hopefully we'll get a little bit of Chavez. More royalties from mining companies directed towards poverty alleviation.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

A little bit of chavez a little bit of lula, and maybe a little bit of danny ortega. He might have some good ideas but his commitment to revolution seems questionable.

It would be nuts if Fujimori wins.

[Gorilla]

What we're seeing now is the end of a long era of the complete de-politicization of Peruvian society. For some decades now any objection to the neoliberal order has been alienated from the national political sphere and exteriorized, isolated, in unpopular guerilla sects or, even worse, ineffectual peasant protests.

The stifling liberal/center-"left" orthodoxy that has gripped Peru in the form of Toledo, Garcia et al. has now been completely discredited. What remains is open reaction represented by K. Fujimori, and a formless quasi-left nationalist intransigence represented by Humala.

The last time there was a Peruvian election this exciting, offering this clear a contrast, was um...1992. Yeah. People forget, but in 1992 a vote for Alberto Fujimori was a vote for populism, a vote against Mario Vargas Llosa, the cruddy lumpenliterary dilletante whose effective slogan was "All Power to the IMF!" Fujimori got huge margins in the peasant and Indian parts of the country; there was actually some consternation in Washington etc. when he won although that passed soon enough.

And, well, we all know how that story went.

I'd like to think this time is different. Like A. Fujimori, Humala is a populist and not a socialist, but then again he is closer to socialism and not outright anti-socialist. He also is not scrubbing for votes among reactionary evangelicals (although he is among reactionary catholics). He has been trying to hug up to the US Embassy, but then I don't think the US Embassy has been buying it. And unlike '92, there is a clear contrast with open reaction, as opposed to reaction wrapped in liberal garments.

Peruvian politics has, for the next few months at least, become full of potential again. There is real danger this will cease soon after, but it is precious while it lasts.