Peru's Humala breaks silence: vows hands-on style

[Judi Lynn]

Peru's Humala breaks silence: vows hands-on style
Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:45pm EDT

* Humala promises hands-on, results-oriented style

* Rules out pardon for jailed brother

By Mariana Bazo

PISCO, Peru, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Peruvian President Ollanta Humala on Friday promised "more action and fewer words," breaking two weeks of silence and speaking for the first time in public since taking office.

Humala, who has avoided taking a stand on divisive debates that could irk his leftist base, unnerve investors or cause strife in his ideologically-diverse cabinet, said he would be a hard-nosed leader that gets things done.

"My policy is to be a president who speaks publicly only on necessary topics. I do not want over-exposure to cameras because we are working hard," he told residents in the coastal city of Pisco, where many still live in tents because of a failed government program to rebuild after a devastating 2007 earthquake.

The former military officer, wearing jeans and a white shirt with sleeves rolled up, has sought to distinguish himself from his predecessor, Alan Garcia, a florid speaker who enjoyed mugging for cameras but was criticized for showing little interest in hands-on governing.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/12/peru-humala-idUSN1E77B1MT20110812

http://media.thestar.topscms.com.nyud.net:8090/images/e4/d4/dad4adcb43bdb0670e205279ac1c.jpeg

[joshcryer]

1. Analysis: Peru's Humala dares to go where Lula never went

Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:13pm EDT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/us-peru-humala-idUSTRE76Q5GF20110727">Analysis: Peru's Humala dares to go where Lula never went
Peru's leftist President-elect Ollanta Humala, who takes office on Thursday, has dared to move further toward the center, if not the right, than the man he emulated during his campaign -- Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Humala, a former army commander who used to scare investors with fiery rhetoric, won office in June after promising to govern as a business-friendly leftist like Lula.

But the cabinet Humala has assembled, by nearly every measure, is more conservative than the one Lula put together when he took office in Brazil in 2003. That suggests Humala will keep the existing economic model intact while intensifying the fight against poverty that afflicts a third of Peruvians.

Humala stunned skeptical investors last week by appointing a veritable "dream team" of two respected economists who are adored by Wall Street to lead the Finance Ministry (Luis Miguel Castilla) and central bank (Julio Velarde). Peru's stock market rallied and its currency hit a three-year high on the news.

I wonder why this wasn't posted here on Latin American Underground...