Peru election could add to string of right-wing victories in Latin America

Peruvians go to the polls Sunday to elect their next president amid a conservative shift in Latin America. The daughter of a former dictator, a far-right senator, could win.

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A presidential election in Peru offers a choice between extremes. Peruvians pick their tenth president in 10 years. It'll either be the conservative daughter of a former dictator or a leftist supporter of an ex-president who tried to launch a coup. Here's NPR's Carrie Kahn.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: In the capital Lima, the popular Kennedy Park is full of families calling out countries and numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: The crowd has nothing to do with politics. They're here to trade stickers of soccer stars ahead of this year's World Cup. It's a thing.

FABIOLA CORZO: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: Twenty-three-year-old culinary student Fabiola Corzo (ph) brought her little brother.

CORZO: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: He's in hot pursuit of the superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Always a tough one to find. Tougher task, though, says Corzo, will be picking who to vote for this Sunday.

CORZO: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "Sheesh, I don't like any. They all scare me. They're extremists," she says. She's leaning toward Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Peru's deceased infamous strongman. Corzo says she's not a fan of leftist Roberto Sanchez, a current lawmaker pledging more state control over the economy. Architect Jimena Cardenes (ph) doesn't like either candidate.

JIMENA CARDENES: I think they don't represent us. I don't like what they represent.

KAHN: According to latest polls, both candidates are in a statistical tie, but as many as a fifth of voters are undecided or say they will sit out the election. Voters are fed up with the past decade of upheaval, says political scientist Eduardo Dargen (ph).

EDUARDO DARGEN: There is this kind of anti-incumbent feeling, that anti-incumbency.

KAHN: Voters, though, he says, are having a hard time figuring out which bums to throw out. On top of the constant turnover of corrupt presidents, Peru's congress is seen as actually running the country. And it's full of corrupt politicians passing laws to preserve their power and impunity instead of improving people's lives, says Michael Shifter, a Latin American expert at Georgetown University.

MICHAEL SHIFTER: The major political parties have kind of made deals and protect their interests. And there's a high level of criminality and corruption on both sides.

KAHN: That widespread disdain has both candidates vying for outsider status as they did during their last political debate.

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ROBERTO SANCHEZ: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "That's why she's called Senora Khaos with a K," said the leftist Sanchez, referring to Keiko Fujimori, who has long been one of Congress's most powerful leaders.

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KEIKO FUJIMORI: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "Order or chaos - that's what our country has to choose from," shot back Fujimori, emphasizing her plans to crack down on Peru's rising crime, a stance that could sway enough voters for her to win. This is her fourth run. If she does, it would be the latest conservative sweep in Latin America's apparent shift to the right. But Ben Gedan of the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., disputes claims of a major ideological movement afoot.

BEN GEDAN: What you have in Latin America are a lot of angry people who are unhappy with any political party that's in power.

KAHN: While voters in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia did shift from far left to far right and now potentially in Colombia, too, he says voters will likely just swing back. Especially since neither side adequately has addressed the persistent problems of inequality, poverty and crime.

GEDAN: It's just very uncommon for voters to change their ideological frameworks so quickly. It's much more likely they're just continually unhappy with whomever they voted for four years ago.

KAHN: Voters aren't even waiting that long. The right-wing victors this year in Bolivia and Chile are already facing protests and plunging approval ratings. For Peruvians, the hope is that whoever wins this Sunday will at least manage to stay in office for most of their term. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Lima, Peru.

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