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Humala Wins 2011 Peruvian Presidential Election
June 8, 2011
By: Carlos Aramayo | Printer Friendly       

On June 5, former army officer and left-wing politician Ollanta Humala won the second round of the Peruvian presidential election. The president-elect narrowly defeated rival candidate Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori. According to the Peruvian National Office of Electoral Processes, Humala received 51.54 percent of the vote, while Fujimori finished with 48.45 percent. Fujimori later conceded defeat on June 7, stating, “"I recognize his triumph,” BBC News reported. Humala will be sworn in on July 28, 2011 as 94th President of Peru and will serve a five-year term in office.

Humala’s 2011 campaign strategy was very different from the one he pursued in 2006. The New York Times stated that Humala in 2006 had, “a die-hard radical image, donned red T-shirts, boasted of plans to assert state control over energy resources and blasted opponents for warming to the United States.” However, this time around Humala portrayed himself as a reformed social democrat that explicitly reject talk of seizing private companies and celebrated Brazil's market-oriented economic model, while distancing himself from Venezuela's Chavez and expressing support for relations with Latin America and Mercosur. In his victory speech, Humala promised that poor Peruvians would share the country's mineral wealth and benefit from its impressive economic growth, BBC News reported.

According to the Washington Post, it was this rhetoric that attracted former President Alejandro Toledo, who lost to Humala and Fujimori in the first round of voting in April, and Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru’s Nobel Prize-winning author and a former presidential candidate to be among a small group of influential figures in Peru’s center-right establishment who threw their support behind Humala.

In an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Michael Shifter President of the Inter-American Dialogue stated that Humala capitalized on many Peruvians' frustrations with the country's inequality despite the fact that it is Latin America's fastest-growing economy. His strong support in poorer regions of the country is a "real opportunity" to eradicate some of the recent unrest and bridge the gap between Peru's poor and the business and elite classes, Shifter added.

Prior to the second round, Llosa had warned that a victory by Fujimori would mean a revival of the corrupt 1990s-era regime led by her father, Alberto Fujimori. Llosa added that he would vote for Humala, "unhappily and with fear" but as the lesser of two evils, the Guardian reported.

On the economic front, investors reacted quite sharply to Humala’s victory. According to Reuters, Peru's stock market sank more than 12.5 percent, its biggest loss ever, before trading was suspended until June 7. Meanwhile, the Sol fell 1.24 percent, prompting the central bank to offer to sell about $215 million in deposit certificates aimed at curbing the currency's fall.

Following his electoral success, Humala undertook a regional tour that included visits to Brazil, Chile and Argentina among other countries. During the trip, Humala insisted he is more in sympathy with Brazil's moderate left-wing approach than with the Venezuelan model.

For previous news on Peru, please see:
Humala and Fujimori Advance to Run-Off in Peruvian Presidential Election

Sources:
Washington Post – Nationalist Humala edges out rival in Peru, unnerving investors

Inter-American Dialogue – Peru's Moment of Opportunity

BBC – Peru election winner Humala congratulated by rival

BBC – Peru's president-elect Humala eyes stronger US ties

Reuters – Left-winger Humala wins Peru election, markets dive

The Guardian UK – Mario Vargas Llosa under fire for Peru election endorsement

MercoPress – Peru’s Humala interested in joining “political” mechanisms of Mercosur