Class War

Results are in...the secound round will be: Ollanta Humala vs. Lourdes Flores Nano!

Ollanta received around 30% and Lourdes a little less than 25%.

Alan García fans were given a big let down because when tentative results came out at 4pm, he was leading Lourdes by 0.3%. Official results came out some time between 9 and 10:30 -- I was in bed, reading.

As far as I can tell, the presidential race will become a class issue. Ollanta is seen as the candidate of the poor, the laborers struggling to survive under the oppression of the free market gone mad, American imperialism and accelerated globalization. Lourdes is seen as the cautious, pro-business, pro-investor candidate, although she tries to wear jeans and no makeup to seem more like one of the common people. I think the 24% of the population who voted for Alan García and his pro-worker APRA party are definitely voting Ollanta. Maybe some will think Ollanta is too revolutionary, or they want to vote for a woman who is free of rumors of human rights violations, which Ollanta has plaguing his campaign. However, my bet is on an Ollanta victory. Another factor is that about 13% of the population voted for the 4th and 5th parties, which include a centrist and the wife of Perú´s ex-Japanese President. So there may be some Lourdes votes there.

By region, who voted for who:
Lima region: L
Sierra: O
Northern Coast (including Piura): A
Southern Coast: O
Selva (Amazon): O

Some people believe that Lourdes would gain more votes if she weren´t single, which makes her an atypical Peruvian woman. There are rumors she might get a beau, which I think would be a disgraceful move.

There´s a month left, so the situation can be completely volatile....we´ll see.