{"id":451,"date":"2006-02-09T20:51:49","date_gmt":"2006-02-10T04:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/2006\/02\/09\/lourdes-flores%e2%80%99-up-close-and-%e2%80%9chyper-personal%e2%80%9d-campaign\/"},"modified":"2006-02-09T20:51:49","modified_gmt":"2006-02-10T04:51:49","slug":"lourdes-flores%e2%80%99-up-close-and-%e2%80%9chyper-personal%e2%80%9d-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/2006\/02\/09\/lourdes-flores%e2%80%99-up-close-and-%e2%80%9chyper-personal%e2%80%9d-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Lourdes Flores\u2019 Up-Close and \u201cHyper-Personal\u201d Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maxwell A. Cameron
\nFebruary 9, 2006<\/strong>
\nIn a meeting with the Asociaci\u00f3n de Prensa Extranjera en el Per\u00fa (APEP) in the Hotel Los Delfines in Lima, Lourdes Flores Nano, candidate for the National Unity alliance, argued that this election is about character and the need to restore trust and hope in politics. She said her campaign emphasizes her closeness to people, and establishes direct contact with voters as much as possible. It also emphasizes her personal attributes of hard work, integrity, and the ability to listen. This came in response to a question from a journalist who suggested that her campaign, unlike the campaign of APRA\u2019s Alan Garc\u00eda, does not focus on concrete specifics, but rather emphasizes macro issues. Flores said she thinks the campaign will not be driven by issues, and, in response to a question about her ties to powerful groups in the economy and the media, she repeated the point that her campaign has been \u201chyper-personal,\u201d one of closeness and direct, personal dialogue.
\n\"IMG_0951.jpg\"
\nPhoto: M.A. Cameron
\nFlores said she has sought to address the hopelessness that characterizes the present moment. As a female candidate she feels she can generate some hope through her own credibility and empathy. This is a small advantage, she admitted, but it is important in the current climate of skepticism. As a woman, she would bring a different sensibility to politics, a different way of doing things. This would imply, for one thing, a combination of responsible economics with an emphasis on social policy change. Flores made her now familiar claim that Peruvians are tired of waiting for economic benefits to trickle down, she proposed policies to overcome social exclusion\u2014including modernization of agriculture, promotion of small and medium sized business, and encouragement of tourism\u2014and she argued that the state must be both strong and efficient.
\nIn response to the argument that gender is an advantage she possesses in this campaign, one reporter asked whether not being a mother was a disadvantage. Flores said that, yes, she breaks the traditional mold. Normally people think of a politician as being a man of a certain age, married with children. However, her status as a single woman means that she can devote her energies fully to her work. This answer rings true, and may tap into some powerful sentiments among women. The claim is that if you are a woman in politics you are better off being single. A man with wife and children could devote himself entirely to politics and nobody would ask why he was not a more devoted family man. A woman is not granted that luxury, and hence faces the \u201cdouble day\u201d problem. If Peru is to have a woman for president, it is probably best that it be a single woman.
\nFlores’ strong emphasis on her own personal qualities reflects, in part, the deep disenchantment with political parties in the electorate. Her emphasis on hard-work and integrity is reminiscent of Alberto Fujimori, whose campaign slogan in 1990 was \u201chonesty, technology, and work\u201d (characteristics that were seen as attributes of people of Japanese ancestry). There is also evidence in Flores’ thinking of learning from the mistakes of the Vargas Llosa campaign–a campaign in which she participated. Vargas Llosa came off as aloof from voters, and as a politician who did not offer hope.
\nVargas Llosa\u2019s name came up in another occasion.
\nA question posed to Flores was whether she is being hurt by the perception of being closely tied to powerful economic interests and to the media, something that damaged Vargas Llosa in 1990 and allowed Fujimori to emerge as an insurgent candidate late in the campaign. Flores said that she has not been favored by the media, in fact she has been subjected to tough criticism. She also reiterated that she is not remote from the people. Her campaign style, which involves traveling the length and breadth of the country, is reminiscent of electoral campaigns of the 1950s.
\nThe second time Vargas Llosa\u2019s name was mentioned was in a question about the second round. Flores was realistic about the unlikelihood of winning in the first round, and said that the period between the first and second round would be critical in terms of establishing the kinds of alliances necessary to govern. She came close to entering the second round in 2001, and demonstrated her ability to win votes across sectors, so she can be confident that the sort of \u201canyone but Vargas Llosa\u201d campaign that happened after the first round in 1990 would not be repeated. In 1990 there were disciplined parties\u2014the left and APRA\u2014that were able to direct their voters against the front-runner. In this election, there will be voters who may not have made her their first choice who would, nevertheless, be prepared to support her in a second round.
\nReturning to the issue of the media, Flores was asked about the recent cancellation of C\u00e9sar Hildebrandt\u2019s television show on Frecuencia Latina. Flores regretted Hildebrandt\u2019s departure from the television, and reinforced what Hildebrandt himself has said: she needs no protection from the media and welcomes independent journalism.
\nFlores is clearly someone who enjoys discussing policy issues. She joked that any manual on political strategy would say that the front-runner should never convene a debate with the other candidates, but she said she has no problem with the confrontation of ideas in a format that is appropriate, and no difficulty facing a critical audience.
\nFlores is a strong debater and a policy wonk. She talked in depth about the problems in the mining sector, coca production, education reform, Chilean investment in Peruvian ports, policies to promote foreign direct investment, subsidies in agriculture, and Peru\u2019s role in the international community. Her answers were impressive not only for the familiarity with the substance of the issues, but also for the logic of exposition. Her style tends to be to start with generalities, followed by a discussion of specifics, and to ensure in the process that the essence of the question is acknowledged. That alone is not necessarily extraordinary, but to do this for nearly two hours without making the slightest gaffe or political misstep, all the while speaking without notes and with complete clarity, is the mark of an impressive candidate.
\nIf the Flores campaign has been impressive so far, its main vulnerability is the flip-side of its greatest strength: that is, the reliance on the appeal of the candidate. The strong emphasis on the candidate and her merits, and the reliance on close personal contact with voters as a means of cultivating an image of care and concern for ordinary people, could backfire. There are no solid organized linkages between voters and the political machinery behind the candidate. Support for Flores may be fickle. A lot will depend on her performance in the campaign\u2014and in any future debate. Voters know they are not getting only Flores. They are also getting two vice presidential candidates, 120 candidates to congress, and a huge entourage that does not necessarily have her sensibility or appeal. The closer she gets to power, the more voters are going to start to look at the people around the candidate. The electorate will be turned off very quickly if political hacks around the candidate start acting like they can take power for granted (and begin to speculate about who gets to be prime minister, minister of this or that, and so forth). The recent debate over some of the less desirable names on the list of UN congressional candidates–what in local slang are called the “anticuchos”–is potentially the sort of discussion that could be most harmful.
\nA final note. According to La Republica<\/a> (see below), Flores was harrassed by Humala supporters when she later attempted to visit with voters in Ate along the Carretera Central in Lima. The goal would seem to be to interrupt the “up-close and hyper-personal” relationship that Flores seeks to establish with voters.<\/p>\n


\nJueves negro para Lourdes
\nPor: Lenka Z\u00e0jec.
\nLa Republica<\/a>
\nViernes 10 de Febrero del 2006, p. 8.<\/strong>
\nEl de ayer no fue un d\u00eda grato para la candidata de Unidad Nacional. No solo tuvo que refrescarse a la fuerza, debido a un chorro de agua que le lanzaron unos desadaptados, tambi\u00e9n tuvo que hacer de Fray Mart\u00edn de Porras para frenar una gresca entre sus militantes y los de Ollanta Humala; y, de \u2018yapa\u2019, soportar los palos de Rafael Rey.
\nEl jueves negro para Lourdes Flores comenz\u00f3 cuando, durante una caminata por mercados de la urbanizaci\u00f3n Ceres, en Ate Vitarte, un grupo de pobladores le expresaron su rechazo y se declararon simpatizantes del comandante Humala. Lourdes Flores no se inmut\u00f3. Con la misma sonrisa del comienzo, demostr\u00f3 estar consciente de que as\u00ed es el f\u00fatbol.
\nLa serenidad de la lideresa de UN y de los candidatos al Congreso que la acompa\u00f1aban, entre ellos Milagros Campos y Federico Tong, indign\u00f3 aun m\u00e1s a los humalistas que, a medida que avanzaba la caminata, se bat\u00edan en insultos.
\nSin embargo, cuando los humalistas pasaron de los gritos a las manos, y la polic\u00eda debi\u00f3 actuar para impedir que la concentraci\u00f3n termine peor, Lourdes Flores tambi\u00e9n se pronunci\u00f3. Salud\u00f3 a los humalistas y les agradeci\u00f3 por su presencia, “para eso es la democracia”, coment\u00f3. Acto seguido, record\u00f3 que su campa\u00f1a proselitista era “fraternal” y buscaba el di\u00e1logo, no la violencia.
\nSu discurso, no obstante, era aplacado por el sol, porque los humalistas segu\u00edan en sus trece. Levantaban m\u00e1s sus pancartas, mientras otros romp\u00edan las de la candidata de UN.
\nNo a las provocaciones
\n“Si quieren gritar, griten, muchachos. Yo me acerco, los saludo; bromeo, como debe ser en democracia. Yo comprendo que mientras m\u00e1s nerviosos se ponen (sus contendores), m\u00e1s gritar\u00e1n y nosotros m\u00e1s serenos estaremos. No voy a caer en la provocaci\u00f3n”, explic\u00f3 luego a los periodistas que cubr\u00edan sus actividades proselitistas.
\nAntes, casi al t\u00e9rmino de su alocuci\u00f3n, Flores Nano tuvo que enfrentar otro desaire. El presidente de la asociaci\u00f3n de mercados de Ceres, tom\u00f3 el micr\u00f3fono de manos de la candidata y le pidi\u00f3 que su visita a Vitarte no sea solo “para llevar agua para su molino”, y m\u00e1s bien la conmin\u00f3 a que cumpla lo que hab\u00eda prometido. El dirigente tambi\u00e9n aprovech\u00f3 para darle las quejas del alcalde de Lima, Luis Casta\u00f1eda Lossio, a quien acus\u00f3 de querer desalojar a los comerciantes de la zona en las pr\u00f3ximas semanas para iniciar la construcci\u00f3n de un corredor vial.
\nNo renegociar\u00e1 Camisea
\nDe otro lado, en relaci\u00f3n al contrato de Camisea, la candidata de UN dijo, a diferencia de Valent\u00edn Paniagua que en un eventual gobierno suyo ser\u00e1 respetuosa de los compromisos del Estado. Eso s\u00ed, asegur\u00f3, que las empresas reguladoras cumplir\u00e1n bien su labor.
\nBOX:
\nRey: “Lourdes fue avasallada y enga\u00f1ada”
\nRafael Rey denunci\u00f3 p\u00fablicamente que Lourdes Flores hab\u00eda sido “avasallada” y “enga\u00f1ada” por los integrantes de su lista de aspirantes al Parlamento, de ah\u00ed que salieran a la luz tantos esc\u00e1ndalos respecto a la honorabilidad de algunos que conforman su plancha congresal, entre ellos, Horacio C\u00e1nepa, Jos\u00e9 Luna G\u00e1lvez, Kurt Woll y Ra\u00fal Castro. Explic\u00f3 que una de las condiciones que puso Luis Casta\u00f1eda para que Solidaridad Nacional ratifique su alianza con el PPC, fue que UN no exija a sus candidatos al Congreso una hoja de vida adicional a la que se presenta ante el Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. Seg\u00fan Rey, en suma, precisamente eso fue lo que impidi\u00f3 verificar el curr\u00edculo de los candidatos de Solidaridad Nacional, o de pepecistas como Ra\u00fal Castro Stagnaro, nada menos que uno de los vicepresidentes de esa organizaci\u00f3n pol\u00edtica.
\nLas denuncias del congresista fueron m\u00e1s all\u00e1. En di\u00e1logo con este diario, revel\u00f3 que Casta\u00f1eda condicion\u00f3 tambi\u00e9n su permanencia en UN a cambio de que se incluya en la lista de candidatos al Congreso al legislador de PP, Jacques Rodrich. Seg\u00fan Rey, esto era una forma de retribuir a Rodrich por el \u2018tibio\u2019 informe que present\u00f3 luego de que investig\u00f3 a la Municipalidad de Lima por el tema de las revisiones t\u00e9cnicas. El mismo Rey indic\u00f3 que, si bien al principio Lourdes Flores acept\u00f3 incluir a Rodrich en su lista, un d\u00eda despu\u00e9s de la propuesta le dijo a Casta\u00f1eda que lo sent\u00eda, pero que la solicitud no era procedente.
\nRespecto a estas acusaciones, el secretario general de Solidaridad Nacional, Marco Parra, respondi\u00f3 que Rafael Rey hace ese tipo de declaraciones porque no ir\u00e1 a la reelecci\u00f3n. En ese sentido, neg\u00f3 que el Alcalde de Lima haya condicionado la renovaci\u00f3n de la alianza en Unidad Nacional a cambio de la inclusi\u00f3n del legislador Jacques Rodrich en la lista de candidatos al Congreso por UN.
\nConsultada sobre las denuncias de Rey, Lourdes Flores se neg\u00f3 a responder. En di\u00e1logo con los medios de comunicaci\u00f3n que cubr\u00edan sus actividades en Ate Vitarte, se\u00f1al\u00f3 enf\u00e1ticamente: “Ese cap\u00edtulo, para m\u00ed, est\u00e1 cerrado”.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maxwell A. Cameron February 9, 2006 In a meeting with the Asociaci\u00f3n de Prensa Extranjera en el Per\u00fa (APEP) in the Hotel Los Delfines in Lima, Lourdes Flores Nano, candidate for the National Unity alliance, argued that this election is about character and the need to restore trust and hope in politics. She said her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1305,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7961],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451","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=451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}