Journal Post: Observation #6 Politics

I find myself in the rare circumstance that I haven't got anything pressing to write about (at least, not that I remember), so I shall talk about this guy.



Alan Garcia. A fatty and President of Peru.

The political scene here in Peru is, (in my humble opinion) crazy. The blog illustrating this had to come along eventually, so here goes.

#1 Problem- Obligatory voting. I think this is silly, and I am all for only letting landowners vote (even in the USA). This would limit the emotional/ignorant from voting the country to crap because they are uniformed and easily manipulated. The problem in Peru is that there are many uneducated people and they are FORCED to vote, like it or not, everyone votes. Therefore, people that have no clue generally vote for whoever had the best radio jingle or who promised them the most supposed benefits (and that's if they are somewhat interested, some merely vote according to the most visually appealing party symbol on the ballot, and there are many. You think that I am making this up, but I have asked people about their voting when I lived in the hills and that is what I was told.)

#2 Problem- The educated people are indoctrinated in the school system and because of a latent anti-US sentiment that permeates the whole of Latin America, there is a decided psychological thrust away from anything that has given the US it's past success. I.E.- Capitalism, Free Trade, Individual Rights and Responsibility, Limited Central Government and so forth. Oh sure, there are many that like these things and would like to see some of them implemented, but almost everyone has some irrational resentment of the US in the back of their minds. (Not to sound like an idiot gringo, but my personal theory is that there is a smidge of jealousy at the root of these sentiments.)

#3 Problem- This problem is the same in the states (and quite frankly, parts of the first two are becoming ever greater problems in the States). The problem is lack of interest in the young adults in politics and the general disbelief of all that the government serves the peoples interests. A good guy that I like in Tacna and I had a conversation not too long ago where he explained the "logic" behind the *paro* AKA transportation strike. It goes something like this: ¨The government is full of selfish bastards that only want to suck the all the funds they can and set themselves and their families up in positions of influence. As part of that, they (politicians) are eager to whore Peru out to every foreigner who comes along and willingly exports all of Peru to the highest bidder. In order for the people to get the government to do anything, they must strike, oftentimes violently, to get what they need/want. Therefore, the poor taxi drivers, truckers, and bus drivers need to not work for a period of time and also tear up roads, form mobs that destroy public and private property, etc when the gas prices get to high or when the government fails to construct a promised road etc.¨
Well. There is some truth in all that litany, but the fact of the matter is that the whole country walks in the murky gray area between anarchy and reluctant oligarchy that basically gives justice to none and priority to he who seizes it.
Things are a bit better than they have been in the not so distant past, however. And there are some positive signs of improvement.

Anywho, my case study to demonstrate some of the craziness, is Alan Garcia. He is the current President of Peru, but what is shocking is that he was president once before (1985-1990). His previous stint ws marked by one of the worst economic periods Peru has ever faced with extreme hyper inflation and loss of basic commodities across the country like light and water. Also there was a major terrorism problem with the group "Sendero de Luz" (the shining path). (The 80's was a really screwy time in Peru with terrorism).
So, his first try at President led to him being deposed and then exiled to Colombia and France.

They (the Peruvians) reelected him in 2006 (while I was here as a missionary) and guess what? I was glad. Not because I like Alan, quite frankly, I don't think he's all that great, but rather because he was the lesser of two evils. His main opponent was a guy named Ollanta Humala and he was REALLY crazy. Basically, another Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Evo Morales of Bolivia. In short, an idiot- don't even get me started on Venezuela. So good ol' Garcia, he was the less extreme of the 2, and because he was elected, I finished my mission here instead of being kicked out of the country as Ollanta promised to do if elected.

If that's not fun enough for you, the serious candidates for next years election include a bi-sexual ex journalist who now is an author and successful talk show host, Jamie Bailey, a daughter of the infamous ex president Alberto Fujimori, and another ex- presedent named Toledo. It just doesn't get any better than this.