RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The former president of Uruguay, leftist José Mujica (2010-2015), on Wednesday, April 21, urged Peruvians to unite to prevent authoritarian right-wing Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is serving a prison sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption, from coming to power.
In a video message published in social networks given the second round of the Peruvian presidential elections, Mujica asked Peruvians to support “the most progressive candidacy” and face “the terrible dilemma of falling into the Fujimorista path.”
Thus, without mentioning him directly, the former Uruguayan president positioned himself in favor of the candidacy of schoolteacher and union leader Pedro Castillo, of the extreme left-wing Peru Libre party, rival in the second electoral round of Keiko Fujimori, who is running for the Popular Force party.
“It is a humble call from an old social fighter because it is almost an eternal problem that the left is divided by ideas and interests unite the right,” Mujica emphasized.
“Have the greatness and the stature to try to bring together all those who have a vision in favor of the most forgotten in society,” he added.
A CALL FOR A CONCERTED ACTION
Mujica advocated for the unity of the Peruvian left in this second round of the presidential elections, since some progressive sectors are reluctant to support several radical positions of Castillo and distrust Vladimir Cerron, the leader of the Marxist Peru Libre party, who has a current conviction for corruption.
“It would be necessary to learn from experiences and pain that you cannot have discussions until the final judgment to learn to agree. It is necessary to discuss short programs and in the fundamental things try to agree, and come together, because that is decisive,” Mujica stressed.
“To triumph in life is not to arrive; it is to get up again and start over every time one suffers a defeat. There is no definitive triumph. What is definitive is the struggle for an equal world,” he concluded.
Read: Pedro Castillo has 11-point lead over Fujimori in Peru presidential election – poll
Mujica’s implicit support to Castillo adds to that already openly shown by the former president of Bolivia, leftist Evo Morales (2006-2019), who wished him the best of luck and highlighted the similarity with his program, as he also proposes a new Constitution and the nationalization of the exploitation of natural resources.
Under the slogan “no more poor people in a rich country,” Castillo was the most voted candidate in the first round with a radical discourse of changing Peru’s economic paradigm, considering that the mercantilist economy adopted by the country in the last 30 years did not redistribute wealth and accentuated inequalities.
KEIKO DOES NOT WANT INTERFERENCE
Morales’ affectionate words towards Castillo did not sit well with Keiko Fujimori, who urged him not to interfere in Peru on Tuesday.
“Get out of Peru! Peruvians will not accept your ideology, the socialism of the 21st century. We say out to communism, out to (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro, we say out to (former Brazilian President) Lula Da Silva and to these ideologies that seek to destroy, generate divisions and bring poverty,” Keiko said.
The daughter of former president Fujimori did appreciate the support shown publicly by Nobel Literature Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, a staunch enemy of Fujimorism who this time has asked to vote for Keiko under a series of guarantees of respect for democracy that do not include the pardon of her father.
In the two previous elections in 2011 and 2016, Vargas Llosa had called for a runoff vote against Keiko Fujimori, who is running for the third time after having fallen short, on both occasions, of her quest to become the first woman president of Peru.
Keiko runs this time after spending 15 months in pre-trial detention and facing a 30-year prison sentence for alleged money laundering in the irregular financing of her previous electoral campaigns, where she allegedly received millions of dollars in donations from large companies that she did not declare.