Peruvian Elections and Politics: Boluarte era, political crisis continues

[Velasco]

Long article about candidate Veronika Mendoza in the Spanish edition of the NYT,  by Peruvian writer Gabriela Wiener

https://www.nytimes.com/es/2021/03/30/espanol/opinion/elecciones-peru-2021.html

[Velasco]

7 candidates have the possibility of taking the 2 places of the runoff. This is exciting!

I don't think there's anything exciting in this inextricable chaos, that it's a clear sign of the advanced stage of institutional decomposition that ruins Peru. Besides, all candidates look terrible with the possible exception of Mendoza

[Velasco]

My guess is Castillo-Fujimori or Castillo-De Soto. De Soto is, in his field, quite famous and quite evil.

Edit: be a little careful with "potential Maoist." In Peru, the right throws that at anyone on the Left. There was a photoshopped image of Mendoza posing in front of Guzman's house this campaign, for example. But this is quite clearly a symptom of panic about rural/indian voters who (justifiably) are fed up with Peru's hilariously awful political class. Mendoza is more likeable as a candidate (on lgbt issues, fx), but seems like chickens coming home to roost here.

Yes, exactly.  I simply renounce to explain these things to fake progressives who pay attention to reactionary smear campaigns and actually work in the service of reactionary causes. Mendoza is the only candidate who represents a certain "contemporary left". She's neither Maoist nor Chavista

[Velasco]

This Peruvian election is promising to lead the country into a complete dystopia. I actually met some Peruvians recently and feel very sorry for them

[Velasco]

Yup it will be Pedro Castillo vs Keiko Fujimori. Far-left vs Far-right.

These results being so unexpected show how people in Lima have really no idea of what their country wants. The forgotten Peru showed their face today.

It's not the first time the forgotten Peru shows its face. Just look at the recent electoral history of Peru and remember how the now discredited Ollanta Humala was perceived as a threat, or look further into the past to recall how Keiko's father defeated Mario Vargas Llosa in 1990.

But yeah, a runoff between Castillo and Fujimori is the nightmarish scenario I was fearing last night. Remember that in cases like this, when they have to make a choice between extreme options like communism or fascism, neoliberals and fake progressives always opt for the fascists

[Velasco]

Couldn't put it better myself, comrade! Never has there been a more straightforward and honest socialist than this guy.

That folk is similar to our Alejandro Cao de Benós, chair of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA). If you don't know them, use Google search for kinda funny stuff.

The thing is that a "straightforward and honest socialist" would never endorse hereditary monarchies, so rhetorics aside this Peruvian guy can hardly be defined as such. Calling this DPRK friend a "socialist" is a nonsense sinilar to claim Keiko Fujimori is a "liberal"

[Velasco]

Mario Vargas Llosa has endorsed Keiko Fujimori in his weekly article released by El País, arguing that she is the lesser evil and a victory of Pedro Castillo would imply the establishment of a communist society. Vargas Llosa lambasts Castillo for being economically far-left and socially far-right, while he claims having no doubt that Castillo would suppress free elections. The issue is that Vargas Llosa has also the certainty that a victory of Castillo would lead to a military coup in the short term. So either there is a castrochavista regime or a reactionary military junta, for it's not possible to have both things simultaneously. The Nobel Prize winner admits that Keiko Fujimori is a corrupt, while he himself was a staunch opponent of her father since that electoral defeat in 1990. But Vargas Llosa thinks now that Keiko Fujimori has the opportunity to build a more modern, free and just Peru with the support of a broad social base. He considers Peruvians voted wrong in the first round, so he asks them not to duplicate the mistake choosing the comminist instead of the fascist. In the orevious election Vargas Llosa said that a victory of Keiko would be a vindication of Alberto Fujimori's dictatorship.

[Velasco]

Honestly this pretty much the only election in the world I could possibly think of leaving a blank-vote. Actual human right abusing facist heir vs tankie communist, my sympathy is with the people of Peru.

Pretty absurd to compare an indigenous teachers union leader in rural Peru to anime Stalinists on twitter imo.

True, Twitter Stalinists with anime pfps don't represent a tangible danger to an entire country.

That's not a bad point and maybe we should focus the discussion on tangible dangers.

Assuming both candidates are awful, who is more dangerous? The indigenous teachers union, or the daughter of Alberto Fujimori? In other words, assuming both candidates have authoritarian designs, which one has more chances to succeed? Who would count with the support of the army and the factual powers of Perú,  Fujimori or Castillo?

If I was Peruvian, I would try to have answers for these questions before going to the polling station. My heart obviously wants me to stay at home or waste my ballot, but my head could advice me to opt for the least dangerous

[Velasco]

The count in my hometown (Las Palmas,  Spain) is over. Keiko Fujimori got 170 votes (67.46%) and Pedro Castillo 82 (32.54%). Anyway this polling station is rather small. The count in Spain is currently at 87% and Madrid is at 85%, being the latter more than 1/2 of the Spanish roll. Fujimori is getting 62.2% and Castillo 37.8% overall. I think Vigo is the best polling place for Castillo in Spain (more than 43%),  while Fujimori is hitting 70% in places like Málaga.

I remember a brief  conversation about Sendero Luminoso with a Peruvian woman in Tenerife, some years ago. She was a staunch conservative and surely a Fujimori voter.  I'm curious to read the next Sunday column by Mario Vargas Llosa

[Velasco]

Madrid premier and Spain's rightwing populist leader claims in the regional assembly that 44,000 dead voted in the Peruvian elections. The ONPE rebukes her and asks Isabel Díaz Ayuso not to spread fake news

https://twitter.com/ONPE_oficial/status/1415792150646861826?s=19