Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Looking back: Five years of Alan Garcia

By LivinginPeru.com

After his second five-year term as president, Alan García will return to civilian life on Thursday. During his tenure, García has led a country experiencing great change, with unprecedented economic growth and, simultaneously, signficant challenges. It has been an interesting five years, and opinions about García's management fall across a wide spectrum.

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Jaime Bayly: The Absent Brother

Jaime Bayly. (Photo: Reuters)

Jaime Bayly writes again about his family. This time addressing the frail relationship with his siblings, marked by that usual edgy and sarcastic sense of humor that makes this Peruvian author, TV showman, and controversial character so loved and hated at the same time.

By Jaime Bayly for Perú21
Translated and edited by Jorge Riveros-Cayo

To Andy, with esteem and admiration.

ONE

My sister D. climbed a bus towards the Andes, she married God and shut herself in a convent. I did not attend the marriage, maybe because the convent was situated in the middle of nowhere, close to Abancay. I did not have the fortune to see my sister D. for ten long years. Later she decided to quit being a nun, returned to Lima, mingled with artist-boyfriends and dedicated herself to drive a motorcycle and surfing. When she married a painter of noble appearance, with a surname that reminded me of a paint brand (in either case, a highly respectful man), I did not go to the wedding either because the event took place at the shore of a river in the Amazon jungle. And despite the groom and the bride attended the wedding (at least that is what they say), there was no priest, no judge or witness. Maybe my sister D. and her husband don’t know how to go back to the exotic scenery where they married. It could be said then, that I was absent at their wedding as well as they were too.

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Peru elections: Why did Ollanta Humala win?

By Kenneth Hermse

On June 5, the electoral Gods conspired to deliver what the combined might of the media, the corporations, the political establishment, and, erm, Jaime Bayly fought tooth and nail to prevent: arch-iconoclast par extraordinaire Ollanta Humala securing entrance to the House of Pizarro in a way not involving tanks and guns. As the hired scribblers lament a nation gleefully casting itself into the abyss, one may be given to wonder: just how did this unlikely victory come to pass?

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Interview with Peru's Ollanta Humala: "I connected with the people"

Presidential Debut. "I know the honeymoon will be short. The population has a great pent-up demand."

El Comercio interviews Peru’s president-elect three days after his victory.

By Milagros Leiva Gálvez
Translated by Susana Aguirre


How are you? First of all, congratulations on your victory.

Thank you very much, I'm fine. I'm adapting to the change. It's something new for me, it's the first time I'm president of the Republic of Peru and I'm making contacts with all political and productive forces in the country with the intention of creating peace and calm, with intentions of turning the page after the elections. I don't want to analyze the grievances. It's of no help.

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The work ahead for Peru

By Diego de la Torre

Elections are over, and Peru’s next president receives a much better country than five years ago.

Diego de la Torre

It’s no small thing to have obtained investment grade and have grown an average of 7% every year, despite the world’s financial crisis. An even greater achievement is having reduced poverty from 48% down to almost 30%, according to impeccable World Bank studies.     

The country’s collective self esteem has increased notably. And Peru’s dynamic entrance into the global economy — with a slew of trade agreements and the adoption of labor and environmental standards — promotes the modernization of our business sector and society in general.

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Photos: Election week in Peru

LivinginPeru.com

Sunday marked the end of the presidential elections as Peruvians all over the country took to the streets to vote for their candidate.  Here are a few select photos to look back on the final campaign week.

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From the LivinginPeru.com editor: Peru's elections

Carsten Korch Chief Editor	About Us

Peruvians, foreign residents and investors in Peru haven’t been this scared in quite a while. This Sunday, we all will have to face the music and live in excitement for a few days, as I doubt either Keiko Fujimori or Ollanta Humala will have an overwhelming victory that will be recognized or accepted by the opposition right away.

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Opinions: Expats look at Peru elections

Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori at last Sunday's debate. What do expats think about the elections? (Photo: Marco Mendoza)

LivinginPeru.com

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Interview: Painter Fernando de Szyszlo on Peru elections

By Milagros Leiva Gálvez/El Comercio
Translated by Susana Aguirre 

See interview in Spanish here: elcomercio.pe

"Sorry, I can't vote for either one," says Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo

He disagrees with his friend Mario Vargas Llosa, doesn't believe Ollanta Humala and can't vote for Keiko Fujimori. He says he will respect the results and prefers to take on the role of overseer.

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Peru's choice

By Stephen Kurczy

Barring an act of God, Keiko Fujimori or Ollanta Humala will be the next president of Peru.

By now, many have given up hope that God will break down the barrier between Heaven and Earth and intervene on behalf of His suicidal Andean nation.

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