Peru: right and left will meet in the second round

The teacher of the radical left Pedro Castillo, supporter of Nicolás Maduro, and of the right Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the incarcerated former president Alberto Fujimori, will contest the presidency of Peru, in the June ballot then, in a politically fragmented country in which classist and discriminatory messages are beginning to gain space in the campaign.

Castillo himself threw his dart as he practically began his campaign for the poll. “This choice will be between rich and poor, the struggle between the master and the peon, between the master and the slave “, condemned the former leader of the teachers’ union, who in 2017 was one of the leaders of a two-and-a-half-month strike, demanding higher wages and against tests for teachers to measure their skills.

In a country where discrimination – including racism, of course – is fought from different forumsAlthough this is not enough, stoking the fire with class messages leads to generate more division among Peruvians, with great inequalities – mainly socio-economic – and with limitations of all kinds generated by centralism.

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Castillo and Fujimori, at the ends of the local political council, were the candidates with the highest voting rates in the general elections of April 11, the results of which reveal that Peru, with a few 33 million inhabitants (25 million voters), will face new times with the same difficulties to reconcile positions and ensure the well-being of a greater number of inhabitants.

Castillo, 51 years old, originally from the north Andean region of Cajamarca, and Fujimori, 45-year-old director, from Lima, they obtained 19.10% (2,625,238 votes) and 13.36% (1,836,463 votes), respectively, last Sunday, according to data from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), released Tuesday at 19:30 GMT.

In third and fourth place, the businessman on the right was placed Rafael López Aliaga and the liberal consultant Hernando de Soto, with 11.67% (1,604,599 votes) and 11.65% (1,598,630 votes)), respectively, according to the official report, to 96.18% of the cases processed, which reflected absenteeism of at least 28%.

The speeches of Castillo and Fujimori are expected to become even more polarized in the campaign, which – as in the others, waged since 2000 – has been characterized by “anti-Fujimorism”, which has gained space in the mainstream mass media. who receive millions of dollars in state advertising.

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The political debate is driven, in many cases, by some of the mainstream media, representatives of NGOs (which receive funding with little or little oversight) and which for the most part coincide in their “anti-Fujimorism” and a progressive or liberal political agenda, definitively disqualifying the so-called “conservatives” or right-wing sectors.

Luis Benavente political analyst, director of the political and electoral consultancy firm Vox Populi, said that in the coming weeks the “anti” will come into play. According to him, “anti-Fujimorism” and “anti-communism” will be measured.

What did Castillo and Fujimori offer throughout the campaign developed in the midst of the health and economic crisis derived from the pandemic?

Castillo announced that on coming to power, will encourage the change of the political constitution, which was approved in 1993, by the Constituent Congress during the administration of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is serving a prison for human rights violations and corruption. The former president Congress closed in 1992, exposing – as one of its justifications – the fight against terrorist groups The Shining Path and the revolutionary movement Túpac Amaru, whose leaders and lieutenants were captured the same year.

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For Castillo, the change of the political charter is necessary to change the social market economy regime into that of “Popular economy with markets” and give the State a greater presence in the productive activity of the country, following the models imposed by Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador.

The “Free Peru” party seeks to “nationalize” of “strategic sectors such as mining, gas, oil, hydropower and communications“, As stated in its government plan, registered with the national election jury. “The socialist left does not renounce wealth, but it must be social, not individual or collective”, we read in the official document of “Free Peru”.

On the other hand, Keiko Fujimori, investigated by the prosecution for alleged inappropriate financing during his 2016 election campaign, proposed the “Peru Open” program, to reactivate the economy by preventing the spread of the coronavirus, by encouraging private investment – national and foreign – and by generating more jobs.

Right and left they have been atomized into various groups, and a practically evaporated center is observed. Castillo and Fujimori will have to make alliances with other political groups, including those led by López Aliaga and De Soto, in a country where the discredit of the political class has undermined the institutionality of their parties, generating the appearance of new groups which disappear if their candidates fail in the elections .

* Peruvian journalist. From Lima. @gloriagrandag