{"id":1088,"date":"2006-05-04T08:37:07","date_gmt":"2006-05-04T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/2006\/05\/04\/updated-nyt-editorial\/"},"modified":"2006-05-04T08:37:07","modified_gmt":"2006-05-04T16:37:07","slug":"updated-nyt-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/2006\/05\/04\/updated-nyt-editorial\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATED: NYT editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maxwell A. Cameron
\nMay 3, 2006<\/strong>
\nThis is a puzzling editorial in a number of ways. First, there are factual mistakes which are surprising given the authoritative source. The election is not on May 28, for example. It has just been called for June 4. Second, Toledo’s approval rating is not in the single digits, it is at 21 percent according to the last DATUM poll<\/a>. Admittedly, that is pretty low, but is there any need to exaggerate his unpopularity?
\nThe characterization of Humala as “a military man whose family advocates the shooting of gays, Jews and Chilean investors” seems a little harsh. The use of firing squads is not something that Humala has himself endorsed. Who among us does not have family members who believe crazy things? Equally harsh is the suggestion that of the populist leaders who have come to power in the Andes, Humala would be the “most dangerous yet.” In what sense?
\nTo call the second round an “appalling choice” is also pretty harsh. A colleague of mine commented that there seems to be a missing paragraph here explaining just why Garcia is such an “appalling” option and why he “would make things worse.” I would accept the description of Garcia’s last government, but the question that many Peruvians are grappling with is whether there is reason to assume Garcia and APRA would govern as badly today. The Times offers no basis for judgment.
\nThe final line would seem to be unobjectionable: “There could be no clearer warning than this of the importance of economic development that includes the poor.”
\nRead also:
\nThe New York Times’ sorry duo<\/a>
\nParecidos, pero no iguales<\/a>
\nMay 04:<\/strong> Hemos a\u00f1adido la cobertura y comentarios de los medios de prensa escrita.<\/p>\n


\nEditorial: Peru’s Looming Disaster
\nNY Times, May 3, 2006<\/strong>
\nThe revolt of Latin American voters against the political class began in Peru in 1990, with the election of an obscure agronomy professor named Alberto Fujimori. The anti-establishment mood has spread, leading to populist soldiers and a coca grower taking the presidencies of Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. Now Peru may elect the most dangerous leader yet. Last month Ollanta Humala, a military man whose family advocates the shooting of gays, Jews and Chilean investors, came in first in presidential elections. Since Mr. Humala did not get 50 percent, there will be a runoff on May 28.
\nMore bad news: the other candidate will be Alan Garc\u00eda, a spectacularly irresponsible and corrupt president in the late 1980’s who wrecked Peru’s economy and presided over the commission of widespread war crimes. This sorry duo topped a field that included several excellent candidates.
\nThe roots of the appalling choice facing Peruvians are evident. As in Venezuela, traditional politicians in Peru have failed to improve the lives of the majority, especially indigenous people. The current president, Alejandro Toledo, has presided over five years of peace, lowered corruption and sustained the strongest economic growth in Latin America. Yet his approval rating is in the single digits. Mr. Toledo squandered the opportunity seized by countries like Chile and Mexico to spread the benefits of growth through targeted education, health or rural development programs.
\nBoth candidates would make things worse. Mr. Humala is no fan of democracy and wants to hold a constituent assembly to rewrite Peru’s Constitution. He was an army captain in command of a military base during Peru’s war with the Shining Path guerrillas. There is credible testimony from several families in his zone that men directly under his command tortured and killed peasants, and that he participated in terrorizing and ransacking the business of a storeowner who demanded payment from his soldiers. Many of his closest aides have ties to Vladimiro Montesinos, a jailed racketeer.
\nAll this is widely known in Peru, yet a large chunk of voters are unbothered. There could be no clearer warning than this of the importance of economic development that includes the poor.
\nNYT: el Per\u00fa est\u00e1 a las puertas de un desastre<\/a>
\nLa Rep\u00fablica, 04 de mayo del 2006<\/strong>
\n\u2022 En un editorial, diario lamenta que ambos candidatos lleguen a la segunda vuelta.
\nUn cr\u00edtico editorial del New York Times se\u00f1ala que Ollanta Humala Tasso y Alan Garc\u00eda P\u00e9rez, rivales en la segunda vuelta, conforman “un triste d\u00fao” dados sus antecedentes. El diario precisa que Humala “no es un entusiasta de la democracia y quiere convocar a una Asamblea Constituyente para reescribir la Constituci\u00f3n”. Y a Garc\u00eda lo califica como un “irresponsable y corrupto ex presidente”. Luego agrega que es inminente un desastre. Al respecto, el l\u00edder del APRA respondi\u00f3 que no hab\u00eda le\u00eddo el citado art\u00edculo, pero que, en todo caso, “ni el New York Times ni Hugo Ch\u00e1vez votan en el Per\u00fa”.
\nNew York Times cree que Ollanta y Alan son fatales<\/a>
\nPrestigioso diario estadounidense prev\u00e9 que cualquiera de los dos es peor que Alejandro Toledo.
\nLa Primera, 04 de mayo del 2006<\/strong>
\nEl diario estadounidense The New York Times public\u00f3 un editorial lamentando que Per\u00fa tenga que elegir en la segunda vuelta de las presidenciales entre Alan Garc\u00eda y Ollanta Humala, un \u201cd\u00fao lamentable\u201d que ejemplifica el descr\u00e9dito de la pol\u00edtica en Latinoam\u00e9rica.
\nTras describir al candidato nacionalista Humala como alguien cuya familia aboga por disparar contra \u201chomosexuales, jud\u00edos e inversores chilenos\u201d, afirma que Garc\u00eda fue un presidente \u201cespectacularmente irresponsable y corrupto\u201d.
\nPara explicarse por qu\u00e9 se lleg\u00f3 a esta situaci\u00f3n, el diario indica que, \u201cal igual que en Venezuela, los pol\u00edticos tradicionales del Per\u00fa no han logrado mejorar las vidas de la mayor\u00eda, especialmente los ind\u00edgenas\u201d.
\nAdem\u00e1s, detalla que el presidente, Alejandro Toledo, ha desaprovechado su oportunidad para impulsar el desarrollo del Per\u00fa, como han hecho en los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os Chile y M\u00e9xico.
\n\u201cLos dos candidatos \u2013anota\u2013 har\u00e1n las cosas peor. Humala no es un fan de la democracia y quiere convocar una asamblea constituyente para modificar la Constituci\u00f3n\u201d.
\nEl diario recuerda que Humala tuvo un cargo militar durante la lucha contra las guerrillas de Sendero Luminoso, y asegura que hay testimonios de varias familias de que orden\u00f3 directamente la tortura y asesinato de varios campesinos.
\n\u201cMuchos de sus ayudantes m\u00e1s cercanos est\u00e1n vinculados a Vladimiro Montesinos\u201d, el colaborador de Fujimori, actualmente en prisi\u00f3n, apunta.
\nPara el diario, este \u201ctriste d\u00fao\u201d se ha colocado a la cabeza de una carrera presidencial en la que hab\u00eda \u201cexcelentes candidatos\u201d.
\nThe New York Times opina que todos estos hechos son ampliamente conocidos en Per\u00fa, pero cree que a muchos de los votantes \u201cno les importa\u201d.
\nFujimori
\nEn el editorial, recuerda que fue precisamente en Per\u00fa donde se inici\u00f3 la \u201crebeli\u00f3n de los votantes contra las clases pol\u00edticas latinoamericanas\u201d en los a\u00f1os 90, lo que llev\u00f3 al poder a un \u201coscuro\u201d ingeniero y profesor agr\u00f3nomo
\nllamado Alberto Fujimori. Poco a poco, este sentimiento \u201cantiinstitucional\u201d se extendi\u00f3 por otros pa\u00edses bajo el liderazgo de \u201cmilitares populistas y cultivadores de coca\u201d, hasta el punto de que sus dirigentes alcanzaron el poder en Venezuela, Ecuador y Bolivia, seg\u00fan relata el diario.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maxwell A. Cameron May 3, 2006 This is a puzzling editorial in a number of ways. First, there are factual mistakes which are surprising given the authoritative source. The election is not on May 28, for example. It has just been called for June 4. Second, Toledo’s approval rating is not in the single digits, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1305,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7954],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-international-context"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}