PPK confirms support for Fujimori, Toledo backs Humala

Former Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has confirmed his support for presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori in the June 5 runoff vote against leftist Ollanta Humala, daily El Comercio reported. “I’m going to vote for Keiko,” said Kuczynski, who was eliminated as a candidate in this election after finishing in third place in the first round [...]

OP-ED – The 2011 Election: Facing a leap back to the bad old days

By Nicholas Asheshov Special to the Peruvian Times With the short end of a week before voting on Sunday, April 10,  the first round of Peru’s presidential elections has lurched into a curtain-raiser to a bitter run-off featuring a stark choice between business-as-usual+plus and Chavez-style grab-it statism. The polls say that Ollanta Humala, representing the [...]

Presidential race tightens in final weeks to vote

Less than three weeks from Peru’s general elections, recent opinion polls have shown a sharp increase in support for Nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala and former Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, while former President Alejandro Toledo continues to lead but with a narrower margin. The first poll by firm Ipsos Apoyo for daily El Comercio shows Toledo [...]

Poll: Toledo support in capital region climbs to 34.2 percent

A recent poll in Peru’s capital, Lima, and the neighbouring port city of Callao has former President Alejandro Toledo with more than a 10 point lead over the next closest candidate for the April presidential election. According to the poll, Toledo has 34.2 percent support, up from 24.7 percent in December and 18.9 percent in [...]

Toledo announces two former ministers as running mates for 2011

Presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo has announced that two ministers from his first administration will be his running mates for the April 2011 elections, Radioprogramas reported. Toledo’s first vice president is Congressman Carlos Bruce, who was the former minister of housing in Toledo’s first administration (2001-2006). His second vice president candidate is Javier Reategui, the former [...]

Move to make limited drug possession illegal takes root

Peru Interior Minister Octavio Salazar Miranda announced Thursday that he is drafting a bill which aims to nullify the Peruvian Penal Code’s provision barring the prosecution of simple drug use or possession. By allowing Peruvians to posses or use a minimal quantity of drugs, we implicitly encourage the micro-commercialization of drugs in our society, argued [...]