Race to win Peru election closer than expected
By Hal Weitzman in Lima
Published: June 3 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 3 2006 03:00
Peruvians will vote tomorrow in a presidential election that may be closer than has long been expected.
Recent opinion polls had given Alan García, the populist politician who was president from 1985 to 1990, a comfortable lead of up to 20 percentage points over Ollanta Humala, his radical nationalist rival. But "simulation" surveys, in which respondents participate in a "mock vote", in the past week have suggested that the race may have a much closer finish.
In a meeting with foreign media yesterday, leading pollsters said the race appeared to have narrowed in the past week.
Alfredo Torres, director of Apoyo, the country's top pollster, warned of a "hidden vote" for Mr Humala.A simulation poll by his company on Thursday gave Mr García 53 per cent and Mr Humala 47 per cent, similar to the results of a simulation poll published last Sunday.
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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1095533a-f29e-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html
Alan Garcia, Ollanta HumalaJune 3, 2006, 12:44AM
Peruvians brace for possible unrest ahead of Sunday's election
Associated Press
LIMA, Peru — Peruvians braced for possible unrest two days before a presidential runoff between a polarizing ex-army officer and a former president remembered for a disastrous administration.
Former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, head of the Organization of American States' observer delegation, said the campaign had seen "quite severe confrontation."
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Garcia has pledged not to repeat the mistakes of his 1985-90 administration, which left Peru in economic ruin. He accused Humala of a "Shining Path-like discourse," referring to the Maoist rebels crushed in the 1990s under former President Alberto Fujimori.
Humala, who pledges to radically redistribute wealth among the country's poor majority, recalled that it was during Garcia's administration that the Shining Path insurgency was most active.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3924332.html