Peru elects leftest Humala as President

alaskan_sol · Jun 5, 2011

This should be interesting.

Just a brief recap on Perus history.

1985 - 1990 Alan Garcia - Far left agenda, essentially ruining the country with his populist agenda Bringing Peru to the brink of absolute collapse.

1990 - 2000 Alberto Fujimori - I guess you could call him a right wing dictator. Privatized much of Peru's industries, eliminating thousands of Government jobs in the process, but coupled it with massive investments in education and Universities. Peru became the economic gem of South America. But absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was correctly chased out due to corruption and consolidating his power

2000 - 2006 Alejandro Toledo -Centrist for the most part. restored congress and democracy. Promoted free trade. Perus economy continued to grow

2006 - 2011 Alan Garcia (yes same as before) but this time he converted to the right. As a now right center president. Peru continued to grow and flourish under his administration. But he failed to bring Perus prosperity to the lives of the campesinos living in the highlands and the jungle. So as a result they elected:

2011 - Ollanta Humala - He ran a far left candidacy in the previous elections aligning himself with Hugo Chavez. Now he says hes center left, more in line with Lula of Brazil. One of his talking points was to re-distribute Perus massive mineral.

In the end, Peru's political climate was generally on the right and prospered for 20+ years. Now it will be on the left.

Lets see how this all plays out over the next few years. Will Peru continue to prosper like Brazil's leftest policies has, or go to the toilet like Chavez's?

mapleleafer8 · Jun 5, 2011

Centrist governments usually do better than those who veer to the right or left

alaskan_sol · Jun 5, 2011

mapleleafer8 said: ↑

Centrist governments usually do better than those who veer to the right or left
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He claims he has moved to the center. We will see.

But I am in the same boat. I consider myself a centrist, balance is the best way forward

waltky · Feb 10, 2012

Peru Shining Path rebel leader said to be wounded...

Shining Path rebel leader wounded
Friday 10th February, 2012 - The most important leader of the leftist Shining Path insurgency has been wounded in a clash in Peru's Huallaga Valley, a high-level military official and a civil society group that was in recent contact with the reclusive rebel boss said on Thursday.

Artemio, the nom de guerre of Florindo Eleuterio Flores, heads a remnant group of guerrillas that went into the cocaine trade after the founders of the Maoist rebels were imprisoned in the early 1990s during a bloody war against the state that killed nearly 70,000 people.

The military official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, and the Instituto de Defensa Legal, a civil society group that interviewed Artemio in the jungle in December, said the extent of his injuries was unknown. The government has not provided official comment on the clash that took place before dawn on Thursday.

Peruvian anti-drug police have been trying to arrest Artemio for years. The United States two years ago offered a multimillion dollar reward for information leading to Artemio's capture in the world's top grower of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who fought against the Shining Path when he was a military officer in the 1990s, has vowed to step up efforts to catch people the government calls "narco-terrorists."

http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/shining-path-rebel-leader-wounded-1.1231123
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alaskan_sol · Feb 10, 2012

Very old post but, important to me nonetheless. I lived in Peru for seven years and plan to retire there so I always keep an eye open on whats going on there.

It seems that Pres. Humala is staying the course and sticking with a Lulu like Gov. instead of a Chavez like one. Taking out the remnants of the Shining Path clearly shows he doesn't want Peru to descend into communistic like state.

Viva Peru

waltky · Feb 28, 2012

Shining Path dimmed somewhat...

Peru's Shining Path rebels: Old enemy, new threat
28 February 2012 - The recent arrest of a Shining Path leader was a major blow to the group

Jiron Tarata is a narrow street in the heart of Miraflores, the business district of the Peruvian capital, Lima. Restaurants and shops alternate with the shaded entrances of residential buildings. Today, this is a pedestrian walkway. But on 16 July 1992, when it was a road open to traffic, a car bomb caused massive devastation. "It was a Thursday, at 9:05 in the evening," says Gregorio Ramiro, who still works as a porter in one of the buildings. "The first explosion was to attract attention," he says. Mr Ramiro, like many others on the street, went to the windows to see what had caused the loud noise. Standing there, no-one escaped what came next. "The second blast was the horrible one. That's what caused the carnage."

Twenty-five people died and dozens more were injured. The blast was so powerful that it threw Mr Ramiro back several metres. He still has visible scars on his face and arms from the sharp glass that cut and pierced his skin. Everything - windows, doors, furniture - was blown off. Only the skeleton of the buildings was left standing. One resident still gets teary when she remembers what happened. "There were people crying and moaning," says Maria Teresa Passarelli. "This was worse than an earthquake, because a quake is a natural phenomenon. "This was something that came from the evil of human beings."

Feared fighters

The bombing was the deadliest by the Shining Path guerrilla movement, at the height of its attempt to overthrow the government. Two months later, its founder and leader, Abimael Guzman, was arrested. And with his capture, the strength and influence of the Maoist organisation was severely weakened. Today, only a few pockets of resistance remain. A leader of Shining Path remnants, known as Comrade Artemio, was captured in mid-February. Many Peruvians accept that the guerrilla group no longer poses a serious threat to the government unlike before when its fighters tried to install a Communist state.

But while the movement is still listed by the US and the European Union as a terrorist organisation, experts suggest its goals have changed over the years. "[The capture of Artemio] was not a blow to terrorism," says Jaime Antezana, an expert on the subject. "It wasn't the final thrust against the terrorist subversion. This was a blow to drug-trafficking." Fernando Rospigliosi, another leading analyst and a former interior minister, agrees. "After Abimael Guzman fell, the groups that remained converted more and more to drug-trafficking. "They kept their political discourse, but that's an excuse for what they really are. "These are people who live off drug-trafficking."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17188842
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ronmatt · Feb 28, 2012

Won't be long before we're the 'left hemisphere' instead of the western hemisphere.

waltky · Jun 8, 2013

A couple of clear and present dangers...

Peru's ex president Alberto Fujimori is denied pardon
7 June 2013 > Peru's President Ollanta Humala has rejected a request to pardon the jailed former leader Alberto Fujimori on humanitarian grounds.

Mr Humala said the former president was "not terminally ill". Mr Fujimori, who was in office between 1990 and 2000, is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations. His family says his health is worsening and he could die in prison. Last month, a senior doctor said gastroduodenitis was destroying Mr Fujimori's stomach. His family also says he has tongue cancer - a claim rejected by the government.

'Best-kept prisoner'

Speaking in the Peruvian capital, Lima, Mr Humala said he would not exercise his constitutional power to grant a humanitarian pardon. "Having analysed the interviews of doctors, having spoken to the minister of justice, I have decided to accept the unanimous recommendation given by the Presidential Pardons Commission, and they have not recommended a pardon," the president said. "Fujimori is the best-kept prisoner in all of Peru. "(But) if his objective conditions were to change tomorrow, they (relatives) have the right to seek a pardon again," he concluded. Mr Fujimori was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison for ordering the killings of 25 people by a death squad, as well as the kidnapping of a journalist and businessman during Peru's internal conflict.

In December 2007 he also received a six-year jail term for abuse of power. Under Peruvian law, he can be pardoned only on health grounds. Opposition Congressman Hector Becerril called Mr Humala's decision "totally political". "This does not answer to the feeling shared by more than 60% of Peruvians," he told Peruvian TV. However, a collective group of human rights organisations, CNDDHH, welcomed the decision. "This is a great example that our country is taking in advancing transitional justice worldwide," the group said on their website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22823488
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See also:

Life sentence for Shining Path leader
Jun 7,`13 -- A Peruvian court has convicted a top leader of the Shining Path rebel group and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

Florindo Flores, better known as Comrade Artemio, was convicted of terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering. The three-judge court also ordered him to pay a $180 million fine. He is appealing Friday's conviction.

Artemio was captured in February 2012 in the Alta Huallaga Valley, a stronghold of the fanatical rebel group in the late 1980s and early 1990s before it was largely defeated.

He led a Shining Path remnant that authorities said was deeply involved in protecting the cocaine trade in the valley where it originated more than a century ago.

He was especially close to the movement's jailed leader, Abimael Guzman, who was captured in 1992 and is serving life without parole.

Source
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Peru elects leftest Humala as President

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