Comeback kid

Well, he did it.....Peruvians have re-elected the devil they know: the former president Alan Garcia. But this is a rather damning indictment of politics here. Most people I have spoken with in the past few days are incredulous that they have been forced to vote for 'el mal menor' or the least bad option after a campaign that has polarised the country more than any in living memory. Some tried to protest by spoiling their ballot papers, frustrated by the fact a country with as much potential as Peru could have as its political candidates two such awful options. Garcia and his cronies say he has changed. For the sake of Peruvians, I hope he has. They remember the food shortages, the spiralling inflation, the fear that they felt every time they left their homes that they might be the target of terrorist violence. And they remember how he gave free rein to members of his party in the public sector and how this cronyism led to massive corruption. Mr Garcia has reinvented himself as a moderate socialist, who says his priorities are sustaining economic growth and helping the dispossessed - the poor majority. Mmmm.....