Garcia wins new term 16 years after plunging Peru into economic ruin
Alan Garcia celebrated his electoral victory over an ally of Venezuela's leftist president that gave him another term 16 years after his administration left Peru in economic shambles.
The once disgraced social-democrat said Peruvian voters had foiled the regional expansion plans of Venezuela's leftist leader Hugo Chavez, who had openly supported his rival, firebrand populist Ollanta Humala.
The US administration was evidently delighted the election did not bring another Chavez ally to power in Latin America, after Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales took office in January.
"The best response is that of the Peruvian people (who) decided to vote for president Garcia and not for Chavez's candidate," Deputy US Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told reporters in Santo Domingo.
"We look forward to working with president-elect Garcia," Zoellick told journalists on the sidelines of the Organization of American States' annual General Assembly.
He said Garcia appeared to have learned from the mistakes of his 1985-1990 administration, which was marked by four-digit inflation, rampant corruption and unchecked leftist insurgencies.
Garcia garnered 53.53 percent of the vote in the presidential runoff, and Humala got 46.47 percent, according to an official count of 91 percent of the ballots announced on Monday.
Garcia's victory capped a remarkable comeback that started when he narrowly lost a 2001 reelection bid to Alejandro Toledo, the current president.
At the same time, Humala's strong performance and his rapid rise from political obscurity reflected widespread discontent with the political establishment and perceptions that recent economic growth did not trickle down to the millions of Peruvians who live in abject poverty.
In his campaign, the former army officer portrayed himself as a champion of the poor and indigenous people, promising a redistribution of wealth and a nationalization of the key mining sector.
Humala has became a major political force in Peru. His Union for Peru (UPP) party won 45 parliamentary mandates in April, making it the strongest party in the 120-strong unicameral Congress.
Garcia, whose APRA party will have only 36 seats, faces arduous negotiations even before he takes office on July 28.
And with regional elections coming up in November, Garcia will need to act fast.
"His top priority is building a viable government," said Nelson Manrique, a political analyst at Lima's Catholic University.
Garcia will also need to start delivering on promises of social reform, particularly in the impoverished south of the country, where Humala draws much of his support.
And he will eventually have to clarify some contradictory promises he made to conservative and leftist voters, notably on whether he supports a free-trade agreement with the United States.
Chavez will also find himself in a bind.
During the electoral campaign, the fiery anti-US Venezuelan president had urged Peruvians to vote for Humala and said he would break off relations with Peru if Garcia is elected.
It is unclear whether he intends to carry out his threat, but either way, he is certain to lose credibility, according to analysts in Lima.
His open support for Humala was a major miscalculation, and ended up contributing to Garcia's victory, said Manrique.
Many Peruvians reluctantly supported the controversial ex-president for fear an Humala victory would draw the country into Chavez's sphere of influence, turning "Peru into a colony of Venezuela," the analyst said.
In his victory speech late Sunday, Garcia said voters "defeated the efforts by Mr Hugo Chavez to incorporate us in his strategy of expansion of the militarist and retrograde model he wants to implant in South America."
AFP
