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Presidential candidate Humala swears to God to respect Peruvian democracy (with podcast interview: Alvaro Vargas Llosa)

With his right hand resting on a gilded bible, presidential candidate Ollanta Humala swore before a who’s who of Peruvian civil society on Thursday to respect the nation’s democracy and make no attempt to alter the Constitution or the market economy if he is elected in the June 5 runoff ballot against Keiko Fujimori.


Podcast Interview with Alvaro Vargas Llosa about his support of Ollanta Humala:

By Rick Vecchio
Peruvian Times Editor

Ollanta Humala swears to God and country to respect Peru's democracy
Ollanta swears to God and country to respect Peru’s democracy

With his right hand resting on a gilded bible, presidential candidate Ollanta Humala swore before a who’s who of Peruvian civil society on Thursday to respect the nation’s democracy and make no attempt to alter the Constitution or the market economy if he is elected in the June 5 runoff ballot against Keiko Fujimori.

“I proclaim I will not stay one minute longer than the five-year presidential term,” Humala told the dozens of invited human rights activists, politicians, doctors, artists, intellectuals and business people gathered in the mahogany-paneled hall in the historic mansion of San Marcos University. “I make the commitment not to make or even attempt any change to the Constitution that would permit re-election.”

Dipping in the polls against the daughter of ex-President Alberto Fujimori, whose decade-long regime crumbled in November 2000 amid corruption scandals, Humala’s Gana Peru party made major concessions last week to woo centrist voters. He ruled out his prior government plan to take over private pension funds and dropped a controversial bid to increase taxes to fund public education.

The ceremony Thursday was a demonstration that Humala has succeeded in persuading an important swath of Peru’s political and social elite that he has truly abandoned the most radical points of his leftist agenda.

Keiko Fujimori campaign poster posing with her father
Keiko Fujimori campaign poster, posing alongside her father’s image

Among his most prominent supporters is Nobel prize-winning writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who addressed the crowd Thursday in a pre-recorded video feed from Spain. He urged Peruvians to vote for Humala to avoid a repeat “of one of the most corrupt and cruel dictatorships that we have had in our history.”

“Since Ms. Keiko Fujimori has said that her father’s government was the best in the history of Peru, we could be opening the doors to a new dictatorship,” Vargas Llosa said, adding that he believed Humala’s pledge to be sincere.

“I believe that this oath and his rectified government plan should dispel all doubts that still persist among those undecided voters,” Vargas Llosa said, “and I urge you to vote for Ollanta Humala to defend democracy in Peru and avoid the derision of a new dictatorship.”

3 Comments

  1. And does anyone believe this clown. Apparently.

  2. I think Mr. Humala is the best option to become a President for Peru.We need to support him to get done.

  3. m. santos costa

    Ollanta may want to uphold the intention of establishing a democracy.
    After having lived in Brazil for 4 years, one feels Peru isnt a democracy – yet.
    As to Fujimori…God help Peru.
    But most foreign investors are keen on a president who will not rock the boat and Ollanta, with his effusive handshakes to Chavez…isnt helping!

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