Five facts about Peru's new president

[Bacchus39]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/06/06/peru.humala.facts/index.html

only 4 facts due to posting limitations


Here are five facts about Peru's new president:

1. Humala is an ex-army officer linked to a 2000 military uprising.

More than a decade ago, Humala led a military rebellion against former President Alberto Fujimori, Keiko's father, who is currently in prison on a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses. The uprising thrust Humala into the national spotlight. He also battled the Shining Path, a brutal leftist insurgency that terrorized the country in the late 1980s and 1990s. Remnants of that group still operate, and sporadic violence linked to the drug trade is often blamed on them.

2. Humala narrowly lost a 2006 presidential bid to current President Alan Garcia.

Humala squared off against Garcia in the last election, losing in a second round of voting by just a few percentage points. In an interview with CNN en Espanol last week, Humala spoke about some of the mistakes he made during that campaign. He said his "radical discourse" alienated other political groups, which then turned to support Garcia.

3. Humala has fought to distance himself from his more radical past and from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

During his previous campaign, Humala was seen by many as a loyal foot soldier for Chavez, intent on turning Peru to the left. This year, he tried to put distance between himself and the Venezuelan leader, casting his campaign more in the mold of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former Brazilian president. Humala adopted less radical rhetoric and swapped his trademark red T-shirts for business suits in an attempt to woo more voters.

4. Humala has said he wants to spread the benefits of Peru's economic boom to the poor.

Peru's economy is one of the fastest-growing in Latin America, but poverty remains persistently high. Roughly 1 in 3 of all Peruvians are poor and the poverty rate is much higher in the more rural, remote parts of the country. Humala spoke to the issue of inequality throughout the campaign and during his celebration speech on Sunday. "The nation will only advance if the Peruvian family advances," he said.