Advantage of the candidate of the left, Pedro Castil …

From Lima. In an election where the continuity or change of the neoliberal economic model is at stake, the left increases its advantage over the right in the presidential race. The rural teacher and the union leader Pedro Castillo almost doubles Keiko Fujimori in intention to vote for June 6 elections. The right is in despair and doubles its campaign of fear against the 51-year-old professor, oblivious to the political class and transformed into surprise by these elections. Castillo is demonized as “a communist threat” for trying to make Keiko, who is highly rejected, digestible as “the lesser evil”. It is a campaign which mixes McCarthyism with racism and classism against the candidate of Andean origin and popular. The campaign against fear enjoys wide media and social support, but it does not work for the right.

Four pollsters coincide to give a large advantage to the candidate who proposes to change the neoliberal economic model. In a survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP), published last Sunday, Castillo gets 41.5 percent, while Keiko only gets 21.5 percent. A week earlier, in an Ipsos survey, the difference was smaller: 42 versus 31 percent. The Datum and CPI pollsters give respectively 41 against 26% and 35.5 against 23.1%, still in favor of the left-wing candidate.

The neoliberal model, imposed three decades ago by the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori and whose continuity is now defended by his daughter Keiko, has worsened inequalities, precarious labor rights, weakened the state and neglected public services , such as health and education, issues that have been highlighted and dramatically exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. In this context, Professor Castillo has emerged as a new figure who proposes to change things. With a discourse of change and its popular and Andean extraction, it has managed to connect with important sectors of the population, especially in the interior of the country.

In contrast, Keiko presents herself as the defender of a model in crisis and has a strong anti-vote, which according to a recent poll is 55%, which is explained by the authoritarianism and corruption of her father’s government. , sentenced to 25 years for crimes against humanity and corruption, a regime she defends, but also for her own acts: is prosecuted for money laundering for having received hidden funds for his electoral campaigns in 2011 and 2016, in which case the prosecution requested 30 years in prison against him, and in recent years the Fujimori parliamentary majority under his command has generated a serious political crisis with his obstructionist and destabilizing actions, and has protected corrupt judges, prosecutors and politicians. This works against him even among voters betting on other right-wing candidates in the first round.

His strategy, so far unsuccessful, to try to compensate for this anti-vote and win the support of voters who reject it, is to discredit his rival and scare the left and changes in economic policy. In this, he plays on the wall with the mainstream media. Using Cold War language, Keiko and his supporters divide the country between communists and anti-communists, and demand to vote “against communism” they say Castillo represents. As if it was a massive 1950s McCarthyite campaign, large billboards appeared on the streets with messages saying, “Think about your future. No to Communism “,” Communism breeds misery and poverty “and others like that.

Castillo is disqualified, accusing him of being a terrorist, linking him to Brilliant trail, the Maoist armed group which, in the 1980s and 1990s, organized an internal armed conflict, a relationship the candidate indignantly denies. A terrifying scenario is painted if the leftist candidate wins the election. The ghost of Hugo Chávez is once again shaken to repeat like a mantra that “Castillo wants to make Peru another Venezuela”.

Those who promote Keiko accuse Castillo of being authoritarian, claim he would shut down Congress, end press freedom and perpetuate himself in power, which is all that Fujimori did when he was. to the government. Statements by some elected members of Congress Free peru, the party that appoints Castillo, speaking of a possible closure of parliament and control of media content, is paying for these attacks and the doubts of other sectors. Castillo disowned these spokespersons and rejected their statements. Defying memory and intelligence, the right seeks to position the candidate of the party that has struck and governed in an authoritarian manner as a defender of democracy and freedoms.

Hysteria has taken hold of social networks, where the fear of the wealthiest classes is reflected in the candidate who reminds them of the great inequalities and speaks of change. “If you vote for communism or if you vote white, you don’t like Peru”, “If Castillo wins, they will take your house away from you, they will take away everything you have”, are some of the messages that abound on the networks. There are also messages with calls for the military to give a coup if the leftist candidate wins the election.

The left which supported the candidacy of Veronika mendoza, sixth with 7.8 percent, questions Castillo his conservative positions that oppose gender equality policies and rights such as legalizing abortion or equal marriage, but it came on argue, noting that it “expresses a desire for change” and that Fujimori’s path should be closed. Keiko received support from the fascist Rafael López Aliaga, third with 11.7 percent, who said if Castillo wins “he will leave the government palace dead”. Other candidates did not speak. Whatever position they take, the ability to approve votes is very limited.

The left-wing candidate received the support of former presidents Jose mujica from Uruguay and Evo Morales from Bolivia. Keiko was backed by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and other notorious advocates of neoliberalism and right-wing causes, such as the writer Mario Vargas Llosa.