Elections in Peru: end of the hot campaign for Ca …

From LimaIt closed an extremely polarized campaign, carried out in an atmosphere of great tension and tension. It is a campaign that divided the country between the professor and the leftist trade unionist Pedro Castillo, the surprise of the elections, which rallied a good part of the population by its popular origin and its message of change of the neoliberal model, and the right Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the imprisoned ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori, which defends the continuity of this neoliberal model that his father imposed thirty years ago. The left as a whole united around Castillo, and on the other the political, economic and media right has closed ranks with Fujimori.

A campaign marked by verbal violence, especially from the right, and for a dirty war against the left massively amplified by the media. Despite the multiple and constant attacks received – the right accuses him of wanting to set up a communist dictatorship and even being a terrorist, frightens the population by telling them that one of his governments will take away their businesses and their savings, that there will be inflation, unemployment and hunger – and some mistakes in his campaign and inaccuracies in the presentation of his proposals, and massive media support for his rival, Castillo reached the close of the campaign with a slight advantage in the polls of between one and two points. The campaign ends with around fifteen percent undecided. From them will come the votes that will define the winner. Analysts dare not predict an outcome.

“The candidates arrive in a dead heat, with Keiko growing up among the undecided and reducing the difference Castillo made to him. We are going to have a very close result, whoever wins, ”he said. Alfredo Torres, survey director Ipsos.

“Keiko has media support and has grown. The fear campaign against communism has had an impact on a middle class who fear losing what they have achieved. Castillo has a tough vote in popular sectors. There is a technical tie, but with a minimal advantage from Castillo. I think that the remaining undecideds can be shared equally between the two candidates, ”he said. Patricia zarate, of Institute of Peruvian Studies.

In this climate of polarization, division, tension and uncertainty, the two candidates ended their campaign on Thursday. They both did it in Lima. Castillo and Keiko wanted to do it in the central Plaza San Marín, a traditional setting for political meetings. Both announced protests there. An unsustainable coincidence, which the authorities resolved by denying them both. Castillo moved his closing rally to Plaza Dos de Mayo, also in the center of the capital, a space for union demonstrations. Keiko chose to go to Villa Salvador, a popular district on the outskirts of the city.

Ahead of his closing rally, Castillo had an online conversation with the former president of Uruguay. Jose mujica. The day before, the leftist candidate had met relatives of victims of human rights violations during the Fujimori dictatorship, to whom he had assured that he would support their demands for justice.

“On June 6 (election day), we can write the new story of this country. I appeal to the largest unit in this city. I will show loyalty to my country, respect, ”Castillo said, before going to the last rally in a campaign he entered as a stranger and ended up running for the presidency.

At the end of the campaign, Castillo spoke from the balcony of an old house in Plaza Dos de Mayo. During his campaign, he stressed the need for a profound change in the country which involves setting aside the neoliberal model and correcting deep inequalities. He insisted on prioritizing public health and education.

Hace unos días, Keiko pidió perdón por “no haber estado a la altura de las circunstancias” cuando su partido obtuvo la mayoría parlamentaria en las elecciones de 2016 y la usó para boicotear al gobierno y generar una grave crisis política, y también pidió “una new opportunity. ”Keiko’s problem is that after so many broken promises throughout his political life, his word has lost credibility and his public regrets are seen as a campaign strategy rather than a sincere acknowledgment of guilt.

Between late and strategic apologies for forgiveness, festival of offers – bonuses for economic assistance to the population, works and tax cuts, without saying how everything that is proposed will be financed – and attacks against his rival, Keiko closed his countryside. His campaign was marked by an aggressive McCarthyist discourse, which sought to put the axis of this electoral competition as if it were a dispute between communism and democracy, a division in which, for this discourse which almost monopolized the media, Fujimorism is stripped of its authoritarian and corrupt essence and presented as a defender of democracy, and the left stigmatized as “a communist threat”. Keiko, who is surrounded by former leaders of her father’s dictatorship, said her mission was to “save Peru from communism”.

“No to Communism” was read on banners placed near the stage from which the authoritarian right-wing candidate was speaking. He has criticized the last governments, but in his team he has former ministers of these last governments. Defender of the continuity of the neoliberal model, but aware that a majority demands changes in the midst of a serious crisis, candidate Fujimori spoke of “a change forward”. Their is a change to keep everything the same. Days after the revelation of new figures on deaths from the pandemic, which places Peru with the highest death rate in the world, candidate Fujimori has fired against restrictions to fight the pandemic – in the country there is no There is no quarantine, but there are restrictions on the capacity of public places and nighttime curfews – and offered to lift them.

With little merit to win popular support and high rejection, Keiko, who faces legal proceedings for money laundering and criminal organization, seeks to win the election with this campaign of fear against his rival and posing as the claimed lesser evil.. If Keiko bets on fear, Castillo bets on hope and demands for change. It was the tone of the two country enclosures.