President Ollanta Humala and other Peruvian politicians took to Twitter to express their condolences for the death of Nelson Mandela.
“We’ll continue the path of justice, brotherhood and freedom that Nelson Mandela left us. Good bye Madiba and my condolences to the people of South Africa,” Humala said on his Twitter account, @Ollanta_HumalaT.
Former President Alan Garcia tweeted that Mandela was “an example of sacrifice and tolerance,” while his predecessor, ex-President Alejandro Toledo, sent a message on his account saying that Mandela’s example will continue, “his fight, his ideals.”
Keiko Fujimori, a leading opposition politician that narrowly lost to Humala in the 2011 presidential election, said via Twitter that Mandela is an “inspiration for humanity.”
Mandela, the former president of South Africa that led a movement to bring down apartheid in that country after spending 27 years in prison, passed away on Thursday. He was 95 years old.
Twitter has become increasingly popular with politicians in Peru. In 2011, Humala made important cabinet announcements on Twitter, where he has more than 730,000 followers. Former presidents Alan Garcia and Alejandro Toledo are also active users, often sending out messages attacking political opponents or defending their own record. Garcia has about 130,000 followers and Toledo has around 180,000.
Even Alberto Fujimori, the 75-year-old jailed ex-president and father of Keiko Fujimori, has started tweeting. Fujimori got an account in September, which he has used to criticize the government and defend his administration from his prison cell.
The increased use of Twitter by politicians has come as the use of social media has expanded in Peru over the last few years as more and more people have access to the Internet.
