Ollanta Humala: Difference between revisions

Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso

Date of Birth:	June 26, 1963
Political party:	Peruvian Nationalist Party - Union for Peru
Profession:	Military

Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (June 26, 1963) is a Peruvian left-leaning, nationalist politician and a Lieutenant Colonel (retired) in the Peruvian army. At the end of December 2005, he officially registered to run in the 2006 presidential election under the Peruvian Nationalist Party/Union for Peru ticket.[1]

Ollanta Humala is the son of Isaac Humala, an ex-communist lawyer and nationalist from Ayacucho (We can also say his father has communist ideas and he's basically gone bananas). He attended the Colegio Franco Peruano in Lima and then began his military career in 1982 when he entered the Military School of Chorrillos with the rank of lieutenant.

In 1991, now with the rank of Captain, while taking a basic course in the Military Intelligence School of Peru Humala participated in the Grupo Cacerista. The clandestine group at the time was under investigation by the director of the school and was composed of active and retired military officials who rejected what they viewed as corruption within the Peruvian military and supported a nationalist ideology.

Many of these people now make up Humala's core base of support. In his military career, Humala was also involved in the two major Peruvian conflicts of the past 20 years, the battle against the insurgent organization Shining Path and the Cenepa War with Ecuador. There have been some accusations that he participated in torture while fighting the Shining Path.

In 1992 Humala served in Tingo María (Huánuco Region) fighting the remnants of the Shining Path and in 1995 he served in the Cenepa War on the border with Ecuador. [2]

In October 2000, he led an uprising in Toquepala, (Tacna Region), against then President Alberto Fujimori. [3]

The main reason for the rebellion was the return of Vladimiro Montesinos, the former intelligence chief, who had fled Peru in search of asylum in Panama after having been caught on video trying to bribe an opposition MP. This lead to an escalation of fears that he still maintained considerable power in Fujimori's government.

This led Humala and about 60 other Peruvian soldiers to revolt against senior Army Commanders. By the end of the rebellion however, many of Humala's men would desert him leaving him with only 7 men. During the revolt Humala had called on Peruvian "patriots" to join him in the rebellion, and some 300 former soldiers answered his call and were reported to have been in a convoy attempting to join up with Humala.

Humala's revolt also was able to gain some sympathy from the Peruvian populace with the influential left-of-center newspaper La República calling him "valiant and decisive, unlike most in Peru". The newspaper also had many letters sent in by readers with accolades to Ollanta and his men.[4]

In the aftermath the Army had sent out hundreds of soldiers to try and capture Humala and his remaining men. Humala and his men had managed to stay in hiding long enough for the political situation to change, with President Fujimori being impeached from office and Valentín Paniagua Corazao being made interim president.

This giving him the ability to come out of hiding and releasing a statement officially calling off the rebellion. Humala and his men would march to Lima and swear their allegiance to Paniagua.

Humala would also be pardoned by Congress and was allowed to return to military duty. He was sent to Paris then to South Korea until December 2004, when he was forcibly retired. His being forced out of the army is suspected to have been part of the motivation behind his brother Antauro Humala's leading another etnocacerista rebellion in January 2005.

In October 2005 he became the leader of the Partido Nacionalista Peruano (the Peruvian Nationalist Party) and is running for the presidency in 2006 on the Union for Peru ticket. Questioned by the media he denied any ties to Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez but said he would welcome his support.

In November and December 2005, Peruvian Jewish community leaders, including a Rabbi, accused Humala and his group of being openly xenophobic. Isaac Mekler, the leader of the Jewish Association of Peru, subsequently met with Ollanta Humala and told Peru.com that he does not believe Humala's ideas to be anti-semitic. Mekler also announced his intention to become part of Humala's Partido Nacionalista Peruano, and run for a congressional seat.

In December 5 2005, the ambassador Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the former Peruvian Secretary-General of the United Nations, told the press that he does not support the decision of the Union for Peru politiclal party in electing Humala as the party's presidential candidate. Pérez de Cuéllar had founded the UPP under which Humala is running. Pérez de Cuéllar also said that after being the presidential candidate in 1995 for the UPP he has not had any further contact with the UPP and therefore he did not take part in the choosing of Humala as the party's presidential candidate for the 2006 presidential elections. [5] [6]

On January 3, 2006 Evo Morales made his first official visit to Venezuela as President-Elect of Bolivia. Humala attended the official ceremonies held in the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas where both Morales and Chávez pledged their support to Humala in his bid for the 2006 presidential race in Peru. In objection to this, Peru recalled its ambassador to Venezuela, Carlos Urrutia, protesting against Venezuela's alleged interference in the election. ^{video 1 video 2}

Several right-wing political leaders, including Humala's most significant opponent in the 2006 election, Lourdes Flores of the Unidad Nacional party, have also criticized the action.[7] However, the candidate of the social democratic APRA party and former president Alan García has stated that he saw no problem in Humala visiting with Chávez. Humala has also responded to criticisms in a press conference stating that it was the first time he had ever talked with Chávez and called the move to recall the ambassador "an improper reaction".[8]

In March 2006 Humala also met with President Néstor Kirchner of Argentina in Buenos Aires. During the meeting Humala stated that regional integration took priority over bilateral agreements with the United States and called Kirchner a "brother" in the cause to integrate Latin America. Humala would also meet with Brazilian President Lula da Silva to discuss regional integration. [9] [10]

Humala is had, until mid-March, been in second in most polls to his right-wing opponent Lourdes Flores by a small margin. In a March 15-19 national poll Humala is now in the lead in the Presidential race with 31.6% with Flores at 29.1% and Garcia at 21.6%. Humala also maintains considerable support outside of Lima, the capital, and maintains a stronghold in Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. [11] [12] [13]

Humala has also been accused of torturing peasants under nom de guerre "El Capitan Carlos" ("Captain Carlos") while he was the commander of a military base in the jungle region of Madre Mia from 1992 to 1993. While he and the PNP have denied the accusations, and that he ever used such a pseudonym, his brother Antauro Humala recently stated that Humala certainly used such a name during their activities. [14] [15]

On March 17, 2006 Humala's campaign came under some controversy as Humala's father, Issac Humala, made the following statement "If I was President, I would grant amnest to him (Abimael Guzmán) and the other incarcerated members of the Shining Path". The elder Humala made similar statements regarding amnesty for Víctor Polay, the leader of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, and other leaders of the MRTA. Ollanta Humala however has distanced himself from the more radical members of his family during his campaign. [16] [17] ^{audio 1 audio 2}

Ollanta Humala's brother, Ulises Humala, is running against him in the election. Ulises Humala, however, is considered an extremely minor candidate.

Ollanta Humala and his brother Antauro are the foremost leaders of the "Movimiento Etnocacerista", an ethnic nationalist group composed of former and current Peruvian soldiers many of whom are veterans from the domestic conflicts against the Shining Path and to a lesser extent against the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the brief Cenepa War between Ecuador and Peru.

The name etnocacerista itself is composed of two parts the first evoking ethnic identity, particularly a strong identification with the country's Incan Native American origins. The second part of the name "cacerista" refers to 19th century Peruvian president and war hero Andrés Avelino Cáceres. During the War of the Pacific Cáceres led the Peruvian resistance against Chilean occupying forces. Since the war, particularly because of the Chilean annexation of the resource rich Tarapacá Region, Chile has become Peru's traditional rival.

The etnocaceristas therefore strongly embrace identification with their Incan heritage, nationalization of the country's industries (beginning with recently privatized industries), the reintroduction of the death penalty, the legalization of coca cultivation, and a strong anti-Chilean stance particularly against Chilean investors which many etnocaceristas claim are manipulating the country's economy.

Ollanta Humala has also embraced the Bolivarian concept of a pan-American republic, frequently referring to other Latin American nations as "brother nations" particularly with regard to Bolivia which was for a short time in a Confederacy with Peru and which sided with Peru in the War of the Pacific against Chile. Humala has also expressed sympathy with the government of Juan Velasco, which took power in a bloodless military coup and nationalized various of the country's industries whilst pursuing a favorable foreign policy with Cuba and the Soviet Union.

• Partido Nacionalista Peruano (Peruvian Nationalist Party) Official Party Website
• Union por Peru (Union for Peru) Official Party Website
• "Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales Eulogize Ollanta Humala" January 3, 2006 University of British Columbia-Peru Elections 2006
• "Peru revolt leader to fight polls", December 31, 2005 BBC News
• "Judíos con Ollanta" (in Spanish), December 21, 2005 Peru.com
• "Peruvian militants end stand-off", January 4, 2005 BBC News
• "Perú: Ollanta Humala habla con la BBC" (in Spanish), January 3, 2005 BBC Mundo Interview with Ollanta Humala (transcript and audio)
• "Leader of violent standoff in Peru agrees to lay down arms", Jan 03, 2005 CBC News
• "Emergency declared in Peru town", January 2, 2005 BBC News
• "Quiénes son los etnocaceristas" (in Spanish), January 2, 2005 BBC Mundo
• "Peru soldiers take police hostage", January 1, 2005 BBC News
• "Breakdown in the Andes", September/October 2004 Foreign Affairs
• "Peruvian rebel lays down weapons", December 11, 2000 BBC News
• "Bid to end Peru rebellion peacefully", November 2, 2000 BBC News
• "Historia de Ollanta", November 1, 2000 BBC Mundo
• "Rebellion in Peru", November 1, 2000 NPR's Talk of the Nation
• "Peru Report", October 30, 2000 NPR's Morning Edition