Is Peru Next?

On April 9, when Peruvians elect a new President, they will choose between Ollanta Humala Tasso, a nationalist former army commander who proposes radical economic and social change, and Lourdes Flores Nano, who would maintain the country’s current neo-liberal policies. Whoever wins, the results will echo across Latin America.

A victory for Humala would seem to confirm the waning appeal of the neo-liberal policies that have dominated the continent since the 1980’s. It would bolster the informal axis of Venezuela’s populist Hugo Chávez (also a former soldier) and Evo Morales in Bolivia, but also the line supported by Brazil`s Lula da Silva and Argentina’s Kirchner who combine administrative efficiency and left-leaning rhetoric.

On the other hand, a victory for Lourdes Flores would stand out as an exception in the area, together with Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, whose reelection at the end of May seems certain today.

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