Peru: Reactions Following the First 2011 Electoral Round · Global Voices
Isabel Guerra

Voter in the center of Peruvian voting process. (Photo: OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Peru, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The day after celebrating the elections in Peru on April 10, the results were clear: there will be a second round, and as of writing this post, in accordance with the official numbers from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), with 72.373% [es] of the electoral tickets counted, Keiko Fujimori extends her advantage over Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and will be the rival to Ollanta Humalla, who currently maintains first place with 29.02% of the votes.
Taking into account that the ONPE's report is one of counted votes, not an accurate representation, it remains clear that as the electoral votes that continue arriving from distinct corners of the country proceed to add up, the results for Fujimori and Kuczynski can cross one another's path temporarily [es]; but as the total number of counted votes is determined, it will be unlikely that the expressed tendency in the exit polls [es] (Ollanta Humala in first place, Keiko Fujimori in second, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in third) will change substantially.
Bloggers, candidates, and analysts coincide that this result is principally “an angry vote” [es], a vote of punishment for the economic policies managed by the governments in recent years, that have fomented growth and created a new prosperity that curiously does not sit equally with everyone, but rather has further accentuated the gap between the extremes on the socioeconomic scale.
Roger Merino explains it clearly in his blog Comparación Jurídica y Análisis Crítico [es]:
…como hace 5 años, “los otros” han vuelto a ganar categóricamente en primera vuelta. Esos otros, gente que trabaja horas de horas en el campo, los obreros de las fábricas, los pobres de la sierra rural y de la Amazonía, los pobres limeños que viven en los pueblos jóvenes (algunos de los cuales ya no son considerados como tales porque según INEI [la agencia nacional de estadística] ya no ganan 257 soles mensuales, sino 280!), esa gente que creemos que no existe porque se abrió por ahí un nuevo centro comercial o se construyó un edificio, esa gente tiene voz y tiene voto. Cada cinco años recién sentimos su presencia y tenemos la desfachatez de sorprendernos por los resultados.(…) Tratemos de entender los problemas en vez de insultar y menospreciar, tratemos de aprender algo de esta elección.
The results of the first round have had enormous repercussions on the social networks, above all due to the fact that the three candidates most voted-for were the least favored on the social networks during the campaign, much like what had occurred in Colombia with Antanas Mockus.
As Augusto Ayesta [es] points out, in newspaper La República:
hoy podemos ver que el Perú no es Facebook, ni Twitter, ni Hi5. La mayoría de electores no está allí y aunque más de seis millones de jóvenes entre 18 y 29 años hayan ejercido su derecho a voto, la lucha se sigue dando, fundamentalmente, afuera de la red.
Those who are not happy with either of the two candidates that have entered the second round express their feelings on social networks, as Juan Carlos Olivera [es] demonstrates on Facebook:
Es tiempo de ver quién quiera [sic]al Perú. Si no te gusta que Humala y Keiko estén en segunda vuelta, no te vayas del país. Hay que quedarse a luchar en contra de cualquier influencia chavista o liberación de algún asesino, seamos el ojo vigilante ante cualquier huevada[tontería] que haga el próximo presidente.
Others, such as Jose Benjamin (@Jose_Benjamin_) [es] and Vanessa Liberati (@Cori1610) [es], complain openly about the “socially resentful” who gave their votes to Humala and Fujimori, even labeling them ignorant, like Carolina Gonzales (@ADAMGASMIC) [es]:
@MariMim @joselynmegalam el voto de humala y de keiko predomina en los sectores C,D y E (los mas ignorantes) los mas manejables!
Or more openly, as Miguel Angel Cárdenas (@dragonrampante) [es] points out:
“Voy a pagarle la multa a mi empleada [mucama doméstica] para que no vote por Ollanta”, le escucho a una ppkausa [simpatizante de Kuczynski]. Se merecen un Humala! pero nos friegan a todos
Another large sector reacts to these comments. Katya Delgado (@mamibrujita) [es] states:
Realmente, viendo los comentarios en FB de algunos PPKausas [partidarios de Kuczynski], entiendo por qué Humala ha ganado estas elecciones. Da pena ver tanto racismo
Many Twitter users set themselves apart from the comments on the social networks that are qualified as racist, like @Kñoda [es] and the popular Peruvian Chef Gastón Acurio, who comments on his Facebook page [es]:
A poor neighborhood in the Chorrillos district in Lima (Photo: J. Enrique Molina)
Antonio Salazar (@Bitocho) [es] alludes to the sector of poor Peruvians and Josué Calderón (@JosueZeroBalas) [es] voices his opinion on Twitter:
Hoy no ganaron los IGNORANTES, ganaron LOS IGNORADOS… Tomemos consciencia, dejemos de creer q el Peru solo es tu cole [colegio], tu uni [universidad], tus patitas [grupo de amigos]
While the candidates that did not pass to the second round say mea culpa for their errors, admit defeat [es] and evaluate the country's new political scene [es], Peruvian businessmen are expecting and awaiting the proposals from the two finalists [es], as well as those politicians who are already beginning to retrain themselves and evaluate who they will support in the second round.[es]
And social network users also meditate, doubt [es], withdraw themselves and even announce that they will take action from anti-Humala [es] or anti-Keiko [es] platforms. Some simply invite others to maintain vigilance for democracy in the country, as Carlos Gcg [es] or Janter Mozombite Manuyama [es] invokes:
Recien me despierto de esta pesadilla que se veía venir, me da pena mi país, pero que podemos hacer amigos asi es la democracia y a prepararnos para estar vigilantes a los posibles atropellos que puedan venir con la elección de cualquiera de estos dos señores, recordando las épocas universitarias en que peleamos contra la dictadura fujimontesinista…Hay que estar alertas de nuevo.