Keiko Fujimori is running for President of Peru under a shadow that will never dissipate: her father. He is at once an important reason for the viability of her candidacy as well as a cautionary tale, the lessons of which she must insist she has learned.
Alberto Fujimori was President of Peru from 1990 to 2000 and was credited with, among other things, the revival of the economy and the brutal suppression of the leftist uprising that made the country a byword for terror in Latin America. As a result, the elder Fujimori is now sitting in prison, a cozy one by most standards, indeed built specifically for him, but a penitentiary nevertheless. While his case is still under appeal, he could be in jail for a quarter century. (Read "Peru Runoff: Coup Leader vs. Convict's Daughter.")
Keiko Fujimori has spent the last couple of months trying to dispel the impression that she is merely a stand-in for her father. "They are trying to say that my father is influencing the campaign, but it's not true," she says. "He is in prison. I make the decisions, I picked the campaign team and wrote the government plan, I am here talking to Peruvians, not my father." She is adamant. "If my opponents want to think otherwise, they have underestimated me. Let them continue thinking that way."
If she does win the June 5 run-off against her left-wing opponent Ollanta Humala, she will become the country's first female president, Peru's youngest head of state, if only by just two days (she turns 36 on Wednesday), and the first child of a president to be elected to the same office. She will also be the first woman of Asian descent to rule a nation in the Americas, as well as the first person with an MBA to govern Peru, having graduated from Columbia University in 2006. And while the past two presidents have also had foreign-born spouses, she will be the first with a US-born First Gentleman, Mark Villanella, a Jersey boy.
So far, she can claim virtually dramatic turnaround in her campaign. Going into the first round of voting in April, her support fluctuated around 20%, which most opponents and pundits attributed to the core support for her father. Part of that support was due to an original pledge to free her father. She has since stepped back from that, though partisans are still believe she may alleviate his imprisonment if elected. (See Fujimori's conviction for human rights abuses.)
However, the other 76% of voters in the first round, which included 11 candidates, remember the long list of crimes from her father's government. He fled Peru for Japan in November 2000, as a corruption scandal tore apart his administration. The Germany-based anti-corruption organization, Transparency International, calls his regime a "kleptocracy" and lists him among the top 10 most corrupt leaders in modern times. Some estimates put the amount of money allegedly stolen by the regime at more than $1.5 billion.
Keiko Fujimori has managed to rebrand herself partly because of a savvy campaign that focuses simply on her first name - the symbol of her Fuerza 2011 party is a "K" for Keiko, putting distance between herself and her father. She has also benefited from Humala's negative ratings, which are on a par with her own. A former Army officer, he has been plagued by memories of his failed 2006 presidential bid, when he was linked to Venezuela's Hugo ChAvez. Fear of this leftist bond lingers, even though he denies it exists. Most of Peru's media is unabashedly opposed to Humala.
Nevertheless, the first round of voting gave Humala 32% of the vote to Fujimori's 24%. She now has 43% to his 39%, according to the most respected polling firm, Ipsos Apoyo. The difference is still within the margin of error and the polls do not include many rural areas where Humala is strongest. A defining moment could be the presidential debate scheduled for May 29. (See why the issue of same-sex marriages roiled the presidential race.)
Fujimori insists she is naturally shy. But there has been no evidence of that inclination through her campaign. It was not present on May 22, as she attended meetings in jungles towns along a stretch of highway from Tarapoto to Yurimaguas, in the northern jungle. She graciously accepted flowers offered by supporters, took hats from women in the crowd - women account for the bulk of townsfolk who braved the midday jungle sun to hear her - and easily launched into a spiel tailor-made for each audience.
As she campaigns, she offers to put in running water in towns where there is none, provide school breakfast and lunch programs, free uniforms and shoes for grade-schoolers and a much more active state. Tossed into the mix are airports, hospitals, universities and a string of other major infrastructure undertakings. The promises, which sound extremely ambitious for a five-year presidential term, and her folksy style have helped erase the six-point advantage enjoyed by Humala, with just two weeks to go before the election.
Fujimori says the tide has turned. "There are huge crowds wherever we go. You get a feeling that people know that we are the winning option," she says as she tosses t-shirts from the window of her car to supporters lining the street.
Jair Rodriguez, 20, a college student who was on hand to greet Fujimori when she landed at the airport in Tarapoto, says he is voting for her because of her ideas, but also because of her father. "The president [Alberto Fujimori] saved our country from terrorism and created the foundation for today's growth. We shouldn't forget the past," he says. If she does win, she owes part of the victory to her imprisoned dad.
See people protesting Fujimori's re-election campaign in 2000.
See the world's most influential people in the 2011 TIME 100.
View this article on Time.com
Most Popular on Time.com:
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment