April 8, 2001 Breaking News Polls have closed in the Peru presidential election, and exit polls show that the top two candidates will go to a run-off election in May: former World Bank employee Alejandro Toledo v. former President Alan Garcia. Narco News reminds that for months, Clifford Krauss of the New York Times and other U.S. correspondents claimed the race was between two candidates expected to tow Washington's line and support Plan Colombia: Toledo and conservative candidate Lourdes Flores. Days ago, Narco News (still on page one: see "Here Comes Garcia?) suggested strongly that Garcia, under the slogan "neither neoliberalism nor neo-fascism," could pull off an upset. Thus, the Peruvian government's support for the $1.3 billion US- imposed Plan Colombia military intervention is now an open question. The May election will draw clear distinctions between the pro-U.S. position of Toledo and the historic anti-interventionist tendency of Garcia and his supporters. According to exit polls, Toledo received 41.3% of the vote, followed by Garcia with 24.7 percent (prior polls had listed Garcia in third place at 18%). The campaign was marked by savage personal attacks between Toledo and third-place finisher Lourdes Flores, making it very difficult for supporters of Flores (with 22.5% of the vote) to support Toledo in the final round next month. Garcia remained above the fray, praising all candidates and criticising the Fujimori-Montesinos regime that had deposed him in military coup a decade ago. The final election will be held 30 days after the votes are officially counted. You heard it here first... >From somewhere in a country called América, Al Giordano Publisher The Narco News Bulletin http://www.narconews.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
