Communism or capitalism? It sounds a little stark, but it might come down to that. Today’s the second and final round of Peru’s election for president and Peruvians today are heading to the polls.

Peru’s presidential ballot
Source: UPI, via El Comercio

Peruvians voting in the Inca city of Cuzco
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo!

They will decide whether to choose Alan Garcia, a former president, or Ollanta Humala, a cashiered ex-army officer, as their next president.

Alan Garcia after casting his ballot
Source: AFP, via Yahoo!

The former, Alan Garcia, is a failed leftist ex-president from the 1980s who says he’s changed his ways. He now vows to attract foreign investment and make up for the mistakes of his previous government, which was an unmitigated disaster. Garcia’s a good politician with a good political organization and a silver tongue who drew his original support from young people with no memory of his lousy first presidency, and from small businessmen who are nervous about, but not utterly hostile to, the forces of globalization. He says he’s a candidate in the mold of Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Lula da Silva of Brazil – a mild social democrat. But I see a significant difference: Garcia’s willingness to confront Hugo Chavez head on is a sign he’s made of sterner stuff than they are. He seems to be allergic to appeasement, unlike them. He may outdo them as an strong and effective regional leader if he is elected.

Ollanta Humala and his wife, after casting ballots
Source: AFP, via Yahoo!

The latter, Ollanta Humala, is a Chavista acolyte who has been seen parading around in clown-show pictures with Hugo and Evo Morales of Bolivia. For awhile, he didn’t try to hide it. He seeks to accelerate the politics of resentment, divide the country into loyalists and enemies, withdraw Peru from the global markets, and smash all contracts with foreign investors. He thinks he can somehow make Peru prosperous by knocking out the bottom from the foundations of wealth creation, one of which is property rights. He’s also peasant torturer from the past wars, a hater of free trade and a Chavista, though that’s hurt his campaign, and suddenly he’s trying to deny any connection.

What will Peruvians, an Alaska-sized nation of 27 million people, decide?

Odds seem to be in favor of Alan Garcia, but in this one, anything can happen. There often is a hidden leftist vote that doesn’t show up in polls. So, Humala might win even though Garcia has a sizable lead in the polls.

The Washington Post has a really first-rate backgrounder describing the improbable rise of Alan Garcia from the political rubble and what he plans to do if he wins, which can be read here.

The Associated Press – interestingly another reporter named Monty just like the Post – dueling Montys reporting Peru, and both good – has an excellent analysis of what is at stake in this election here.

El Comercio of Lima, Peru, has an ongoing photogallery of the vote.

Reuters has a Fact Box outlining each of the two candidates’ campaign pledges and platforms.

Here is the official election site for the Peruvian government, which will report the vote tally as it comes in.

BLOG ROUNDUP:

Inka at Lobo en Peru has a terrific new blog called Journal Peru that is live-blogging the whole thing, minute by minute, from Lima, Peru itself. It’s must-see riveting reading here.

University of British Columbia, at its Peru Election 2006 site, has something similar here, so it’ll be fun to compare the dueling live-bloggings of all the action going on in Peru today!

Meanwhile, Academic Elephant at Elephants in Academia has a pithy take on what this election is really about here.

Craig at Red Satellite has some commentary about Ollanta Humala’s racist overlay thoughout his campaign here.

OcraM at El Utero de Marita (in Spanish) notes that Alan Garcia’s daughter is technically in violation of election laws, which have a moratorium on campaigning, by her saying ‘Vote for my dad’ and other campaignish stuff. Meanwhile, Ollanta Humala has technically broken election laws too by insisting he’s hearing from overseas sources, where expat voting has concluded, that he is in the lead. He’s not supposed to say that, either. OcraM has a lot of links to radio and broadcasts in his post here.
Hat tip: Peru Election 2006

Rodolfo at Latin America: Economics & Society has some excellent background blogging, lots of meaty details about what is happening in Peru and why, lots of knowledgeable recent historic details, well worth a click here.

Simon Bidwell at South American Bidsta has a splendid description of what’s at stake in this election, including the views of Peruvians he knows who say they will vote for Alan Garcia with a clothespin over their noses. Democracy, and preserving democracy, sometimes means voting for people you can’t stand. Read it here.

Karen at Karen’s SST in Peru has some good technical, on-the-ground details of the particulars of Peru’s election – no liquor sales, polls close at 4:00, good stuff here.

Il Maistro at Poliratas Peruanos has a hilarious post describing what it’s like to vote for a guy you can’t stand only because the alternative is worse. I voted and I vomited, so Maistro explains in Spanish. Read it here.

If you have a link send it to me at ammorayleon at gmail dot com or in the comments below and I’ll get it up!

WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT AND POWERLINE READERS!

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