Toledo Takes Early Lead in Peru Voting

Economist Alejandro Toledo held a solid lead in Peru’s presidential election Sunday, according to early results, as attention focused on two candidates dueling to face him in a likely runoff vote next month.

Early returns indicated that Toledo, a 55-year-old from an impoverished, indigenous background, will be the candidate to beat in the runoff election. He had about 36% of the vote, falling short of the 50% plus 1 needed for outright victory, according to an official count of 15% of the votes.

In the race for second place, former President Alan Garcia, making a startling comeback after years in disgrace, held a slim lead over Lourdes Flores, an ex-congressional deputy hoping to become Peru’s first female president.

Garcia had almost 26% to Flores’ 24%, according to results released by federal election officials at 10:30 p.m. local time. Projections by election monitors and pollsters showed Garcia and Flores in a virtual tie. Five minor candidates trailed them.

The election offered Peruvians a chance to close the door on a wild period of political crises that staggered their democracy and culminated in November with the ouster of President Alberto Fujimori, who took refuge in Japan.

Fujimori ruled for 10 years in tandem with Vladimiro Montesinos, his spy chief and a longtime ally of the CIA. Montesinos is now a fugitive wanted on charges that he turned the National Intelligence Service into an all-powerful apparatus involved in multimillion-dollar corruption.

During last year’s presidential election, allegations of widespread fraud tainted Fujimori’s narrow win over Toledo and fatally isolated the regime. As foreign governments condemned the skulduggery, Toledo led nationwide protests that helped topple Fujimori and established himself as a leader of pro-democracy forces.

“We have come a long way, we have been at it two years, and we have a short way left to go,” Toledo said, thanking his supporters Sunday night. “It would be an error for a country like this to remain trapped in the past.”

In contrast to last year, the climate surrounding Sunday’s election was peaceful, the result of democratic reforms by a transition government that took power after Fujimori’s ouster. International observers, including former President Carter, found few problems with the vote and the campaign leading up to it. Freedom of the press has been largely restored, the intelligence service has been dismantled, and electoral agencies have been cleaned up.

Instead of worrying about governmental dirty tricks, Peruvians watched the fierce battle between Toledo’s top two challengers.

Scant weeks ago, Flores, 41, seemed a sure bet for second place thanks to her reputation for honesty and her appeal to women, who play a decisive role in elections here.

But momentum shifts rapidly in Peru’s personality-driven politics. Garcia, 51, soared in opinion polls in the final days of the campaign.

The story of the election was Garcia’s resurrection, according to well-known political commentator Carlos Tapia. Anti-Toledo voters and young voters with no memory of Garcia’s rule from 1985 to 1990 gravitated to him, Tapia said.

“The more modern Alan Garcia has been the new element in the campaign,” Tapia said. “Toledo’s leadership is a year and a half old, and Lourdes did not propose anything new.”

But many analysts and voters still find Garcia’s comeback incredible, given his disastrous tenure. As president, Garcia defied international economic agencies and implemented the statist policies of his left-wing American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, or APRA. When he left power in 1990, Peru was crippled by runaway terrorism, 7,000% inflation, a debt crisis and corruption.

Nonetheless, Garcia returned from nine years’ exile in Colombia only two months ago and reinvigorated the APRA political machine, which is rusty but still competitive.

Sounding triumphant, Garcia said Sunday: “I want to express my satisfaction with the results of 60 days of political work. I am sure that in coming weeks I will present a more complete and integral set of proposals so the people can decide how the country will be led.”

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Special correspondent Tarnawiecki reported from Lima and staff writer Rotella from Buenos Aires.