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View Full Version : Ollanta Humala polling strong in Peru.



chebol
3rd January 2006, 01:02
Anyone been following Peruvian politics recently?

PERU:
Pro-Indigenous Retired Colonel Sees Meteoric Rise in the Polls
Ángel Páez

LIMA, Dec 13 (IPS) - Retired army colonel Ollanta Humala has experienced an unexpected surge in the polls for Peru's April 2006 elections. He now has a 22 percent rating, putting him just three points behind the current front-runner, right-wing candidate Lourdes Flores Nano, with 25 percent.

Humala, who is still in the process of registering his new party and his candidacy, started out with a mere five percent voter intention rating, and within the past four weeks rose from 11 to 22 percent in the polls.

Taking a radical stance against Peru's traditional political parties and politicians, who he blames for all of the country's ills, from corruption to extreme poverty, Humala reflects the disillusionment of Peruvians with the government of President Alejandro Toledo and its predecessors.

Ollanta - which means "the all-observing warrior" in Quechua - is not a leftist. He is an outspoken anti-United States nationalist. And while he is not a socialist, he talks about nationalising the country's "strategic enterprises".

Although he has mestizo (mixed-race) features and was born into a well-off middle-class family in Lima, he puts a strong emphasis on his Andean indigenous roots, and is especially popular among the rural poor.

Full article: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31409

Also:
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/peru/archives/020408.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4570852.stm
http://www.freelori.org/news/03jun01_houstonchron.html

Tekun
3rd January 2006, 02:46
Well, there is still many issues which he has not defined his stance upon
Therfore, leftists should reserve their support for him
His situation is very much like the situation in Haiti or Guy Phillipe

I support his anti imperialistic ideas (especially anti US) but his political ideology is somewhat shady, therefore I will wait till he has fully defined it

bolshevik butcher
3rd January 2006, 12:44
Well even if he isn't perfect he sounds a lot more promising than the current peruvian administration. He seems to be another in a long list of leftward leaning potential eladers emerging in Latin America just now.

Sankara1983
3rd January 2006, 21:30
Anything is more promising than the Toledo presidency! :)

One of his role models is former President Velasco, a soldier and nationalist.

IMO, comparisons to Guy Philippe are ridiculous.

fernando
6th January 2006, 21:13
Hmm Im doubtfull about military leaders in Peru...however the democratic leaders have been shit as well and are still very shitty! I will watch for a while what happens and what the story with this guy exactly is before I will blindly support him.

Matty_UK
7th January 2006, 00:58
A rebellion his brother led a few years back, according to the BBC, was made up of right wing militias.....bear in mind Hitler had nationalisation policies too. I'm wary of this guy.