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“I am one of those from below and my idea is to
govern with them and with everyone”
•
“We
shall respect foreign investment although it must
meet certain requisites: the generation of
employment – direct or indirect – the transfer of
technology for the country, respect its fiscal
obligations and protect the environment”
•
From
Lima,
presidential candidate Ollanta Humala talks to
Granma International
BY ALONSO DEL PRADO—Special
for Granma International—
MEDIUM
height, an athletic constitution, close-cut black
hair and a measured way of speaking characterize
this man of 44, who spent 23 of those years in the
Peruvian Army. When he was discharged, after an
argument with his superiors for exposing shady
dealings and fraud within the force, he was a
commander and had been the chief of a military unit,
in which he won the respect of officers, NCO’s and
soldiers.
Now he is
aspiring to the Peruvian presidency and his
government program has provoked panic in the ranks
of those who openly or from the wings control this
immensely rich country but in which the majority of
its 27 million inhabitants live in poverty or
bordering on it.
Ollanta
rejects labels: “I am a nationalist because I
support my nation and my people. I am not a leftist
or a rightist: I am one of those from below and I
propose to govern with them – and with everyone.”
Granma
International
approached Ollante in a
Lima
hotel where he had met with the foreign press, eager
to meet one of the most vilified men in Peruvian
national history, but who is leading the opinion
polls for the elections this April 9.
“I come from
a family of bankrupted farmers who had to leave the
country for the city in a desperate search for
survival,” he affirms. “Agriculture,
Peru’s
principal economic and social base, has been
remorselessly attacked. In many cases the huge
latifundia conceded on false premises include entire
villages of native peoples who have been inhumanly
enslaved.”
A
nationalist government will reactivate agriculture,
will give value to the land, protect its
cultivators, offer them financial credits, promote
their cultural, scientific and technical
development, create a sound agrarian sector, care
for and develop sources of water and conditions so
that rural people do not have to emigrate and live
in slum conditions in the cities or cross the border
in search of sustenance in other lands. Agriculture
is the pillar of the country’s development,” he
affirms, adding: “We shall begin by respecting the
rights of the poorest.”
The
nationalist candidate emphasizes the protection of
the environment and adds: “We support the Kyoto
Protocol and will give special attention to the
precarious situation of the environment in line with
the agreements and efforts of the United Nations.
“Education
is another sector that demands particular attention
from a nationalist government. The situation of
20,000 schools in the Altiplano region is tragic. We
shall make an effort to give education to everyone,
to eliminate illiteracy and guarantee the country’s
present and future.
“I am going
to construct the dignity of the people and their
pride at being the owners of their country. The
Peruvian people are the owners of their homeland:
workers have the right to receive a decent wage that
will allow them to maintain their families and with
respect for the 8-hour working day, which has been
criminally abolished,” he states.
Ollanta
Humala advises that, through the country’s legal
mechanisms, a nationalist government will carefully
review all the concessions granted to national and
foreign investors, will take action against
corruption and oblige those who have been evading
the payment of taxes to cover them.
“We will
respect foreign investment although it must meet
certain requisites: the generation of employment –
direct or indirect – the transfer of technology to
the country, respect for its fiscal obligations and
protection of the environment.
“Those that
meet these requisites are not going to have any
problems,” stated the Peruvian nationalist
candidate, adding: “We are going to consolidate
democracy, affirm the institutions and reaffirm the
concept of citizenship.
“I am
against the neoliberal economic model. We want an
economy at the service of the people and have a
sense of solidarity with other Latin American
countries that are trying to build a regional
economic, social, energetic agenda and one that
protects the environment, all in function of the
well being of our peoples, without exception.”
In this
context, Ollanta Humala notes: “I am not going to
accept pressure from any country to discriminate
against another country. We are not anti: we are
pro, and we want good relations with all nations,
including
Chile
and
Ecuador,
our neighbors, based on respect for our rights and
theirs. We will have a politics of agreement and
dialogue.
“The
Peruvian people are sick of corruption, of seeing
how the law is selectively applied, in favor of
those who already have everything. Moreover,” he
emphasizes, “there is currently a discrimination
based on language. Many indigenous people do not
speak Spanish and can see how their rights are being
violated without even having the possibility of
defending themselves, because their culture belongs
to another of the seven languages spoken in the
country.”
And, in
conclusion, Ollanta Humala leafs through a copy of
Granma International. “Sometimes,” he
confides with a smile, “I like to savor a
Havana
cigar. Via this publication, I would like to send a
very fraternal greeting to the Cuban people.” |
