Peru faces a fork in the road as it elects a new president

Peruvians are very concerned about how the country will recover from the epidemic that has exposed widespread persistent inequality despite a significant increase in GDP (GDP) and a decline in average poverty rates in recent decades. There are both candidates Proposed reforms Related to the major mining sector, but Fujimori relied on government benefit packages to attract voters, while Castillo made structural changes to the economy.

“By renegotiating contracts with big companies, we are going to recoup the wealth with the mining companies that are taking over the country’s wealth,” he said. “In such a rich country there is only so much misery, so much inequality, so much profit, even if they don’t work.”

School teacher and political heir

“Currently in Peru, in the midst of a health crisis and an economic crisis, there is competition for some kind of populist agenda,” said Fernando Dusta, a political analyst in Peru, who told CNN that he was increasingly encouraging candidates to vote. They think the offers will attract voters.

Castillo, a schoolteacher and union leader, is gaining strong support outside of Lima, the capital of Peru, where more and more people are struggling to access public services such as health and education, attracting voters who want change.

Fujimori, who dominates Lima, where one-third of Peru’s population lives, meanwhile wants to unite the electorate in which the current system operates and oust the left from power.

In the first round he received 13.36% of the vote, which was 19.09% for Castillo, but shows that the referendum gap leading up to the second round of voting is narrowing. A May 28 poll from the Ipsos newspaper for El Comorcio showed that Castillo had a narrow margin, with a technical balance within the margin of error: 51.1% for the left-wing candidate and 48.9% for Fujimori.

Although the second round of campaigns was generally highly polarized, Dusta told CNN that it was “highly polarized”. “This is a face between almost two extremes of the political spectrum,” he said. “The political center was defeated in the first round.”

Is Peru ready for a leftist?

“No more poor people in a rich country” was one of Castillo’s campaign slogans, where he also opposed the unfair treatment of the national media centered on Lima. His tour of the country has attracted large crowds, according to the candidate’s Twitter account, who met with the ambassador of the European Union to discuss democracy, private investment and scientific cooperation.

Dusta told CNN that this was the first time a presidential candidate had positioned himself on the left in Peru, where communism is often associated with the Shining Bath guerrilla group. Although he insists there are very few similarities between Castillo and the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, voters are wary of leftists if Peruvian history. “Peru is very polarized and anyone who does not support Keiko Fujimori is criticized as a communist,” Dusta said.

In fact, Castillo’s first-round victory has mobilized some unlikely allies for Fujimori’s cause, putting an end to the historic feud between Fujimori and the influential public intellectual and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Losa. Despite previously vowing not to vote for someone from the Fujimori family. He welcomed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to Peru, warning that the country would become “another Venezuela” if Castillo, a common offensive against the left in Latin America, won.

Dusta said right-wing groups will dominate the legislature, making it easier for Fustimori to form an alliance than Castillo. “This will be a weak minority government,” he said of Castillo’s presidency.

Whoever wins, political instability under the next government could worsen, Dusta warns, as congressional committees split over a five-year period. “It is difficult for a government to trust an alliance to guarantee stability for five years,” he said. “Next year will mean long-term in Peru, where the game is played on a very short-term basis.”

Many voters blame Fujimori for the recent instability, Dusta added, because his party was too big at the outgoing conference. He acknowledged his role in the campaign.

He told a news conference in Arequipa on May 30: “In recent times, my party and I have not been working.” “That is why today I apologize to everyone who for some reason felt that we were hurt or disappointed at some point, I do so humbly without any reservation because I am well aware that there are still many doubts about my candidacy.”

While Fujimori’s history counts against him, he has hit a concerted tone in recent weeks in his attempt to advance Castillo’s election. During a presidential debate on May 30, Fujimori said in a Facebook live broadcast surrounded by his technical advisers on Thursday that “I want to be president of Peru, not to shrink or split.” .

On Sunday, the Peruvians will have to decide whether to give the controversial Fujimori dynasty another turn in the leadership of the country or go on a new path with Castillo.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misrepresented the name of the political analyst quoted.