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| Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez, and Ollanta Humala |
Peru's Peril
It is highly unfortunate Peru had to choose from two very checkered candidates for the highest office in the land.
Humala's victory is a radical departure from the centrist presidents of the recent past.
The losing candidate, Keiko Fujimori, paid the sins of her father, former president Alberto Fujimori who led Peru successfully against the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, but at a catastrophic cost to human rights and the democracy.
He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence for corruption and crimes against humanity. Humala was given a boost from the start, but his narrow victory shows lingering sentiment for the Fujimoris and ambivalence about Humala's campaign promises.
Former lieutenant colonel Ollanta Humala's campaign saved the forced sterilization of the indigenous under Alberto Fujimori as an effective weapon in the closing days of the campaign. Just as Chavez has been able to arouse support among the indigenous in Venezuela, so Humala will in the days ahead in Peru.
In his nighttime address to his supporters at a rally in Lima (where Keiko Fujimori did her best showing), he again promised to ''transform'' the country. The Left is very serious about projects to reshape society into their own image.
Humala will probably follow Evo Morales, not Lula's path as most analysts seem to believe. He is not a moderate in any sense!
Expect moves to lift the five-year restriction for presidents in Peru, among other troubling constitutional moves. Like Chavez, Morales, and Correa of Ecuador, changing the constitution once in power is a high priority.
Once the fig leaf of legitimacy is secure at the ballot box, the destruction of the democracy can begin apace. Peru may have had its last free election.
Press freedoms will necessarily be curbed, too. When you are transforming the country, you cannot take chances.
Humala's "social inclusion" language is about wealth redistribution. Now, leftists are schooled in doing this in a number of ways. Subtly new taxes on "the rich" and corporations may be implemented.
Capital flight like in Argentina and Venezuela is of course an unavoidable consequence, but the purity to leftist ideology matters most.
The shock of direct nationalization of industry is too drastic when you are just beginning. The frog in the pot tactic works best by slowly turning up the heat until the frog is cooked.
The Peru stock index plummeted on Monday to welcome the Humala victory.
As Chavez learned, it is best to purge the military ranks as well early on. When the planned social, economic, and political chaos strikes the country, the only lever available to stop the madness is usually the generals.
Peru will rue the day, and maybe even Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa as well, when Humala became president of Peru.
Democracy was not saved. On the contrary, Humala's victory imperils Peru.
The Chavista tyranny march in Latin America notches another step.
Colombia Encircled
A stubborn holdout from the Chavista Club in Latin America is Colombia, the region's oldest democracy.
Now, Colombia is fully encircled by the Chavista camp. Bogotá stands alone against Chavezism.
The longest-running civil war perpetrated by the narcoterrorist FARC rebels continues to plague Bogotá. Despite a successful concentrated campaign against the rebel inner command circle, there is no evidence of any victory in sight.
While the Colombian Supreme Court dismissed the trove of evidence found on FARC laptops, it is plainly evident Correa's Ecuador and Chavez's Venezuela provide material support to the rebels. Now Humala's Peru can help out as well.
Despite the economic disparities and poverty, Colombians fundamentally reject tyranny and for now that keeps Colombia free from the Chavistas.
US Loses Ally
Peru was one of the two or three loyal allies in a region increasingly hostile to Washington.
The Humala victory is a significant defeat for the US.
President Obama like his predecessor Bush barely recognizes how the region is almost entirely anti-American.
Washington has neither the will nor the energy to resist the Chavista Left south of its border.
The direct threat to US national security cannot be understated with plans for Iranian missiles in Venezuela.
Conclusion
Democracy is in retreat. Press freedoms are scant. The deliberate destruction of wealth and lives is a daily matter in Latin America.
The light of freedom is darkening across Latin America. Expansionist tyrants who win at the ballot box and then cannabilize their democracies are on the move.
Given the competition from the Middle East and the global economic crisis, news from Latin America is somehow deemed less important perhaps.
Tyranny is a universal problem and all should be concerned wherever it is and wherever it grows.
***If you need research from open sources in Spanish, French, or Portuguese and presented in a stylish English language report or a translation of documents in said languages to English, please contact Professor Winn at by sending an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.
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