Leftist Humala vows growth will reach poor in Peru

[Judi Lynn]

Leftist Humala vows growth will reach poor in Peru
By Terry Wade and Teresa Cespedes

LIMA | Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:23pm EDT

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's leftist President Ollanta Humala promised on Thursday to ensure the poor take part in the country's economic boom and sought to show investors he will govern as a moderate who has abandoned his radical past.

The former army commander vowed to keep existing free-market economic and trade policies intact while providing a minimum pension for all Peruvians over age 65 and raising the minimum wage.

He said social programs will be financed in part by a new tax on the windfall profits of companies in Peru's vast mining sector.

"We want the term 'social exclusion' to disappear from our language and lives forever," Humala said in his first speech after being sworn in as leader of one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-peru-humala-idUSTRE76R57J20110728

[Judi Lynn]

1. New Peruvian president: Peru's poor my priority

New Peruvian president: Peru's poor my priority
FRANK BAJAK Associated Press
Published: July 28, 2011

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Ollanta Humala, the leftist military man who won Peru's presidency after abandoning a radical platform, promised in his inaugural address Thursday to make his priority the one in three Peruvians still mired in poverty.

In an impassioned speech, the 49-year-old former army lieutenant colonel charted a plan for spreading the wealth from Peru's mineral boom beyond Lima, where it has long been concentrated among a small elite, to long-neglected hinterlands.

"Peru's peasants and the poor in the countryside in general will be the priority," Humala said in remarks before a newly installed Congress and dignitaries who included 11 presidents, almost all from South America.

He quoted South Africa's anti-apartheid hero and former president, Nelson Mandela, in arguing there can be no democracy where misery and "social asymmetry" persist.

More:
http://newsok.com/new-peruvian-president-perus-poor-my-priority/article/feed/280438?custom_click=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Newsok%2FNews+%28NewsOK.com+RSS+-+news%29