A photo of the five candidates. Photo courtesy of Miguel Bellido of El Comercio

The primaries were held in April and the top two candidates, Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala, will compete for the President’s spot in the June elections.

I found a pretty good article that summarizes the candidates and their backgrounds.  Here is a short excerpt from that article:

“The first round of presidential polls on April 10, 2011, set the stage for a June runoff between the leftist Ollanta Humala, a former military commander, and right-winger Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a former Peruvian president who is in jail. Strangely, three well-qualified centrists — Luis Castañeda Lossio, Lima’s former mayor; Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, an economist who studied at Oxford and Princeton; and former president Alejandro Toledo, who has a doctorate from Stanford — all lost. (For the record, Fujimori has an MBA from Columbia University.)  -Source: Harvard Business Review, “Peru’s Innovation Drive”, written by Alejandro Ruelas-Gossi.

I read an interesting article that accuses Keiko Fujimori of exchanging food for votes.  Seeing as Peru is a third world country and a large percentage of Peruvians live in poverty, it’s not surprising to see someone (whose father happens to be serving a 25 year jail sentence for corruption) “win” votes by giving away free food.

I’ve posted the article below, but you can find the original on www.livinginperu.com under the “news” section.  Here is the link – http://www.livinginperu.com/news-14834-2011-elections-keikos-campaigners-distribute-food-runoff-support-reveals-email

Keiko’s campaigners distribute food for runoff support, reveals email

By Jorge Riveros-Cayo
LivinginPeru.com

Keiko Fujimori’s political campaign team has been accused of manipulating food distribution to poor people in exchange for their support in the runoff.  (Photo: EFE)

Spanish newspaper El Mundo confirmed what had been a rumor for weeks: a campaign team for right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori’s is behind the organization of food distribution in poor areas of Lima in exchange for their support in the runoff.

An email that was sent to LivinginPeru.com at the end of April revealed that a group of Fujimori sympathizers were organizing this campaign in coordination with Fujimori’s political campaign team.

LivinginPeru.com has cross-examined information with other sources to discard that the email is a hoax. El Mundo’s report published on May 5 also confirms the authenticity of the message.

“Keiko Fujimori’s campaign team follows the same electoral strategy applied by her father to win an election: populist welfare,” writes the El Mundo article. “As in the nineties, Fujimori’s sympathizers want to exchange votes for rice, lentils, sugar and canned milked, products that are a luxury in the periphery areas of Lima due to its high prices.”

Fujimori’s sympathizers have been organizing this campaign for weeks, which includes buying and distributing food and blankets, as well as collecting money in cash that is delivered by Fujimori’s electoral campaign team in the poorest neighborhoods of Lima and rural areas in the highlands.

According to recent polls made by Ipsos-Apoyo, CPI and Datum, Ollanta Humala has higher percentages of support among the rural population and poorest socio-economic classes than Keiko Fujimori. The “aid strategy” would have as an objective to thwart these percentages and gain support from potential voters.

“The campaign strategy can be technically legal, but without doubt morally controversial,” says El Mundo.

The email

LivinginPeru.com received on April 28 an email that included a request to contribute to a “pro-Keiko initiative.”

The email text says, “Being a bit more than a month away from the runoff and wanting to contribute our two cents to Peru’s future, we have done a coordination meeting (…) and decided that the most pertinent things to be distributed by Keiko’s campaign team to poor people are the following options:

1. A bag with groceries that includes: 1 kg or rice, 1 kg of sugar, 1 kg of lentils or beans, 2 cans of milk and 2 cans of tuna fish (preferably in a translucent bag that can be requested in the cash register of Wong).

2. Donation of a king-sized blanket (they have to be new and preferably bagged in translucent bags) (I am attaching a blanket photo, they don’t have to be exactly the same but they are sold at any market).

3. Cash: In soles or dollars.”

Following the text above is a list of five women and their addresses where the groceries and blankets can be delivered to. Another name and email address is given for those that prefer to donate money.

The email suggests there was a previous message sent out to announce this initiative and that, apparently, the feedback was good. LivinginPeru.com did not have access to other emails.

Campaigners and beneficiaries confirm

El Mundo contacted Jeanette Stone, one of the five women listed that offered her house to collect the donations.

Stone explained that the bags with groceries will be distributed in shanty towns on Mother’s Day but also during the following weeks of Keiko’s presidential campaign. The blankets will be distributed in Andean rural communities visited by Fujimori.

Cecilia Matsuda, from Keiko’s presidential campaign team, was also contacted by El Mundo. She said the groceries are distributed as “social aid.” The bags of groceries have orange-colored stickers with a “K” for Keiko Fujimori.

Rosa Castillo, national coordinator of the “Clubes de Madres” (Mother’s Clubs), said that bags with groceries are distributed before Keiko Fujimori arrives to a shanty town during her presidential campaign.

“Members from her party arrive before her and distribute food and cookies so people are happier and willing to attend the meetings,” she said.

Castillo also said that Keiko’s brother Kenji Fujimori — recently elected congressman for Fuerza 2011 — also distributed food and gas kitchens to the communal dinning houses known as “Comedores Populares” where women cook low-cost meals for the community.

This strategy was also commonly used during ex-president Alberto Fujimori’s regime. “The Food Aid National Program (PRONAA) was Fujimori’s stronghold to distribute food for free with a political intention,” recalls Castillo.

“He conditioned the delivery of food. Mothers had to publicly support Fujimori and attend meetings, otherwise he would suspend all food aid,” she said.

Keiko denies political intention

Keiko Fujimori said that the food that is distributed are “small gifts” for Mother’s Day. “We are organizing meetings for Mother’s Day with our supporters and giving them small gifts,” Fujimori said last Sunday.

“This is a common practice done by companies and other political parties. I totally reject that there is a political intention in this,” said Fujimori to RPP radio station last Sunday.

Nevertheless, Fernando Vidal, president of the court of honor established by Peru’s National Electoral Jury, announced that they will evaluate this situation, reported La República.

Vidal said that Keiko Fujimori’s campaign strategy is not illegal, but from an ethical point of view highly questionable, especially if her father used the same strategies during his administration.

When I came to Peru in January of 2009 I didn´t have a job.  I couldn´t speak Spanish so I was kind of limited to the jobs that I could get – teaching English was pretty much my only option.  I took a course at Rockhurst University to get a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language, I bought a one way ticket to Lima, and I finally landed a job at Santa Maria teaching English to Seniors.

It was awesome.  I loved it.  The first year went by so fast and I got to experience another side of the world that I never knew existed.  The second year was a bit more challenging.  I was a homeroom teacher, which meant that I had more responsibility – I had to meet with parents.  …a lot.  I learned more Spanish in 3 months of meeting with parents than I did in two years of living in Lima.

The last day of class for one of the sections that I taught - awesome group of guys... a little weird (as you can see), but awesome just the same.

But I also got an opportunity to teach a couple business classes at La Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola.  It is the only bilingual University in Peru, and I had a little experience in the business world, as well as an MBA, so why not.  I taught a couple introduction to business classes there and I really liked that too.  The classes were at night so my days were a bit long, but I could not complain because I got almost 3 months off during the summer.  (sorry to rub it in).

Well, I had a bitter sweet ending at Santa Maria.  I was offered a job at San Ignacio University as the Academic Coordinator of the Bilingual Program.  I didn’t want to leave Santa Maria, but my time there was about done, I had an itch to see what else I could do in Lima.  I had some success during my classes at San Ignacio and it turns out I´m really interested in teaching bilingual classes – teaching to bilingual students is very exciting, really!  I got an opportunity to combine two things that I enjoy – teaching and business.

So now I’m full time at San Ignacio University as the Coordinator of the Bilingual Program.  I´ve been doing that job now for about 4 months and I´m enjoying it a lot.  We´ve got about 10,000 students here, 1,000 of whom take bilingual courses (they also happen to be the best students anyway… lucky me).  My job is to supervise teachers, run training programs, and really create innovative new ways to improve our bilingual program.

This was the Title slide for one of my training sessions

If I compare my current self to when I first moved here two and a half years ago, I´ve changed a lot… for the better.  For one, I speak Spanish on a daily basis at work.  All of our meetings are in Spanish, all of my emails are in Spanish, and most of my conversations are in Spanish (unless I´m talking with the few fellow gringos that work here).  And two, I´ve learned to be a better communicator… maybe not a writer, my skills on this blog are limited, haha… but I´m definitely more skilled at dealing with people, standing up for what I believe in, and taking initiative.

I think what has been most surprising about this whole experience, in terms of work, is that I found that I love teaching.  I love being a part of an educational institution that believes in the same thing I believe in.

You know, like being a real teacher, teaching things based on real world experiences… like this…

Pound it...

Explode it...

Then eat it...

Ahhhh… life lessons, my friends.  Life lessons.

He is the Kung Fu Panda because he has two sides – the “kung fu” and the “panda” – and if you mess with him you get the Kung Fu side, but if you’re nice to him you get the Panda.  That’s right… these are the types of people that are up for election.  It is very difficult for me to believe that some of these candidates, who if they were to run in a high school grade school student council election would be disqualified and laughed at because of how ridiculous their campaigns have been, are really serious with this stuff.  Actually, considering the circumstances, I guess it’s not that hard to believe.

Augusto Rey and Elohim Monard have a lot of guts to pull this one off.  Don’t vote for faces, vote for proposals, as the billboard states, is only secondary to what Augusto and Elohim have done here.

I get the point… I think.  Honestly, I’ve been writing ideas down to try to make fun of them, but then I delete them and write something else.  I’ve been doing this for about 45 minutes now.  So in the end, I think it is better that I don’t add my commentary.  They are expressing all that needs to be said at this point.  Good luck too them, and if you want to see their real faces you can check them out at www.tenemosganas.pe.

Until part 5…

Chris Castillo… ohhhh, Chris.  The first thing I noticed about your billboard was that you felt the need to use a talking bubble, as if we didn’t already know that you were trying to communicate a certain message to us.

Translated – “Diets never worked for me…  Sorry, but the truth is first!”    Yes, Chris, the truth is first.  I can definitely stand behind a congressman who believes in truth.  However… this is not helping…

Translated – “This billboard (or panel) will not be knocked down… Sorry, but the truth is first.”  After consulting with the Spanish guru (the fiance), she told me that the language he used implies that if you knock it down you won’t be able to knock him down too.  (so much meaning in so few words – amazing).  Look at that man’s face!

Actually, the billboard reminds me of one of my classes at UMKC.  One of my Leadership professors in grad school once said, “The wise manager, like a skilled carpenter, wants at hand a diverse collection of high quality implements.”  Chris is really taking to heart the whole “skilled carpenter” approach to this year’s elections.  However, I must say, Chris, that that same teacher has also been quoted as saying – “Managers who master the hammer and expect all problems to behave like nails find life at work confusing and frustrating.”  So, yeah, maybe the hammer wasn’t such a good idea after all.

For part four of this running theme, (and I know I said this last time) but this is THE best billboard I have ever seen.  Oh man I can’t wait…   …until I have time to make another blog post.

This week we’re analyzing one of my favorite billboard advertising strategies — the cardboard cut-out.

(1) Renzo al Congreso:  Renzo decided to sport his favorite yellow polo and jeans for this one.  Don’t worry about dressing up, you’ll only be on display on the busiest highway in Peru.  I think my favorite part about this is the panda that is pointing at him (or giving us the universal symbol for #1).

(2) Julio Gago is famous in Lima for two reasons.  The first is because he has incredible infomercials selling “can’t miss” deals on printers.  The second is because of this picture in the Lima Lawyers archive.  Now, if he wins his spot in congress, he’ll be famous for a third – having awesome cardboard cutouts of himself all over the country.

(3)  Sandro is my favorite.  He’s got two cut-outs, about 100 meters apart, and he’s doing my two favorite moves – the always reliable thumbs up, and the “read my shirt now!”… and he has performed them to perfection.

Please, read what’s on my shirt!

For installment number three… I have found what I think could be the greatest billboard of all time, so stay tuned.

Elections are coming up in April, which means that the presidential and congressional campaigns are in full force.  For a potential president or congressperson, what better way to get your name out there than to put a huge billboard on every corner of the city?  I would like to document in the next month the most creative billboards I´ve seen.  In this first post, we´re analyzing two brilliant campaigns, which, took a not-so-conventional approach to their advertisements.

(1.)  Deporte es Salud – literally translated, sport is health.  I will always be on the side of sleeveless shirts in pictures.  When I was in gradeschool I wore a sleeveless shirt for the yearbook picture and if my memory serves me correctly, the shirt either said `soccer is life´ or `jesus saves´(with a picture of jesus as a goalkeeper).  I´m on board with you, Moises… you have my vote (if I had one).

(2.)  A mi nadie me rompe la mano – Translated:  No one breaks my hand.  Tough on Corruption, as the title of the billboard says, Lucho is displaying his desire to stand up against all the corruption that has plagued Peru´s political history.  I have a lot of respect for that, but come on, is it truly necessary to have your hook in the picture?

But Lucho didn’t stop there.  Oh No.   He brought out the big guns with this mobile truck shown below.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a clean shot of it with my camera considering I was driving, but it is the same sign as the one shown above.

By the way, from my conversations with residents of Lima about whether these tactics are normal, the consensus has been that yes, you should expect the unexpected during election time.

Good luck to both candidates.  As was the billboards’ intent, they have certainly grabbed my attention.  Let’s see if anyone can top you two!  to be continued…

Livinginperu.com has posted an article about Peru’s new brand.  According to the article, “The country brand, a project led by the Peru’s tourism ministry and promotional agency PromPeru, was developed by the British firm FutureBrand, which created Australia’s country brand in 2003.”

In the past, Peru has not made an effort (at least not a good one) to promote Peru and all that it has to offer.  I guess the biggest complaint that I’ve heard from Peruvians is that when they travel around the world, particularly in the US, the questions they get asked can be a bit offensive – one example…”So you’re from Peru?  So do you have a llama for a pet?”.  Granted, that type of question is partly due to certain American’s stubbornness about the international world, but it can also be attributed to Peru’s lack of initiative to get the word out about it’s country and people.

So this is a good sign for Peru.  Now, all it needs is a video in English.

http://www.perufail.com/2011/03/07/bano-2-en-1/

*I said phantom guests because in six months I didn’t have one guest because I was so embarrased to invite people over.  Either that or I’m a huge loser.