A Letter from WCCN’s Executive Director
Carlos Arenas
WCCN Executive Director
WCCN is expanding to Peru, initially to support the financial needs of several fair trade coffee-producing cooperatives. Our first partner will be the Apavam Cooperative in Moyobamba, a municipality in the northern department of San Martín. We also are evaluating Fruto de la Selva Cooperative in the same municipality and Naranjillo Cooperative in Tingo Maria, in the central department of Huanuco. Since this expansion has coincided with the Peruvian presidential election, I will comment on the election and start familiarizing our supporters with this country.
On June 5, 2011, Peruvian voters chose between the two candidates who had acquired the most votes during the first round of the elections. Neither candidate was completely attractive for a clear majority of the population, hence the run off. The finalists were Ollanta Humala, a former military officer leading a center-left coalition, and Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori representing the center-right. Humala was elected president by a small margin (52% vs. 48%).
The last two presidential elections in Peru highlight the disparity between the direction the country is heading and the aspirations of a large part of the population. The majority haven’t felt benefits of the impressive Peruvian economic recovery during the last decade. This feeling of exclusion from benefits is especially strong in locations with major mining projects because that sector contributes much to the current economic miracle. As a result, for the last two presidential run-off elections, Peruvians selected candidates who – besides being labeled anti-establishment -- generated uneasiness and uncertainty about the future of the country under their leadership.
President-elect Humala, who belongs to a lower middle class family, professes a rare mixture of ultra-nationalism, militarism and nostalgia of the old Incan Empire. In 2000, he received national recognition for leading his remote military garrison in a protest of the corruption of the then powerful President Alberto Fujimori. Humala’s symbolic uprising sent a wave of civilian protest against Fujimori that forced the president to resign. Granted amnesty for his military uprising, Humala was appointed to the Peruvian embassy in South Korea and then to France. During his time in France, he obtained a master’s degree in political science at the prestigious Sorbonne University.
Five years ago, Humala lost the presidential run-off and Alan García was elected president. At that time, Humala was an enigmatic person and was accused of being too close to President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. This time, Humala maintained that his role model is former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who managed economic growth with very effective anti-poverty measures that improved the lives of millions of Brazilians. What Humala plans to do in Peru is uncertain. What is clear is that most Peruvians are tired of being excluded from benefits of economic gains -- during the last decade and from centuries of deep inequality. Despite the doubts about President Humala’s real intentions, we hope he will strengthen democracy by making Peru a more socially inclusive country. We are happy to start operations in Peru at such an interesting and historic time.
Sincerely,
Carlos Arenas
WCCN Executive Director