Ollanta Humala’s presidential campaign in Peru is bedevilled by charges from peasants from remote mountain areas that he tortured them in 1980s under the nom de guerre of ‘Captain Carlos.’
What a charmer. It’s not enough that he is leftwing and pro-Hugo Chavez, a failed military coupster, and an anti-Semitic racist. He’s also tortured peasants as El Capitan Carlos.
Today his own brother confirmed it. El Universal has the story here.
I can’t think of any bigger kiss of death to any presidential campaign than being accused of torturing peasants. Not even a Hugo Chavez endorsement.
No spin-control is going to save this one. Color him gone.
UPDATE: But that isn’t stopping Castro from tyring. Here is what Prensa Latina, a Castro organ, had to say. Notice how desperate they were not to reprint the peasant-torture charges as they tiptoed around the issue. They sound desperate. Just the fact that Castro is trying to spin this shows how deeply he is involved with Humala. Humala the torturer of peasants.
Prensa Latina writes:
Bribe against Humala in Peru
Lima, Feb 6 (Prensa Latina) Spokesperson of the Peruvian Nationalist Party (PNP) Daniel Abugattas Monday affirmed that those testifying against the nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala in a TV program have been bribed with 3,000 dollars.
The so-called National Unity, an alliance of rightwing parties supporting Lourdes Flores, Humala”s main electoral rival, bought the false witnesses, said Abugattas considering the current manipulation as part of the traditional parties” campaign against the Nationalist leader, charged of violating human rights during his military term.
PNP spokesperson revealed that the Public Ministry counts on information and evidences on some of those bribery cases and that a judge of peace is already in Lima willing to testify.
Abugattas called the prosecutor”s office to act against Latin Frequency channel releasing the false testimonies and confiscating a tape where some of the witnesses denied having accused Humala and regretted that their declarations were manipulated.
Owner of Latin Frequency Baruch Ivcher may go on threatening to charge me of defamation because there are convincing evidence on the manipulation of testimonies and the tape”s confiscation, Abugattas added.
Some local TV companies Monday presented snippets of the testimonies and several witnesses declared they had been edited in order to present Humala as guilty of human rights violation.