Rich Paraguayans Can ‘Adopt’ Children as Domestic Help. But That Might Change.

Rich Paraguayans Can ‘Adopt’ Children as Domestic Help. But That Might Change.
ASUNCION, Paraguay — Tina Alvarenga never asked her mother why, at the age of 10, she was handed over to an upper-middle-class couple here in Paraguay’s capital to begin a harsh new life of domestic work and routine humiliation. She had seven brothers and sisters, but as her indigenous Guarani parents struggled to make ends meet in the dusty town of Puerto Casado, on the border with Brazil, she was the only one who was given away. Of the many psychological wounds she suffered in her new home, that bewilderment still hurts the…Read more …

Peru elections: Keiko Fujimori trails Pedro Pablo Kuczynski

Peru elections: Keiko Fujimori trails Pedro Pablo Kuczynski
LIMA, Peru — Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed 1990s strongman Alberto Fujimori, was narrowly trailing Monday as votes were tallied in a presidential election that pitted her against a center-right former prime minister and investment banker. If the trend held, the result would represent a major upset in a contest that raised questions about the future of Peruvian democracy and rule of law. Just a week ago, Fujimori, 41, a former congresswoman, led Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by about five percentage points in some polls. But with 94 percent of the votes counted…Read more …

Kuczynski Still Has a Razor-Thin Lead Over Fujimori in Peru’s Presidential Election

Kuczynski Still Has a Razor-Thin Lead Over Fujimori in Peru’s Presidential Election
In a nail-biting finish to Peru's presidential election, center-right technocrat Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is apparently inching towards the narrowest of victories over Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced 1990s autocrat Alberto Fujimori. The latest official results released on Tuesday morning, with nearly 97 percent of the votes from Sunday's runoff now counted, gave Kuczynski 50.15 percent of the vote. That's just 0.3 points, and about 50,000 votes, more than the former congresswoman. The electoral authorities said the very last results may not trickle in until the end of the week. Though these primarily…Read more …

5 things you need to know about Peru’s presidential election

5 things you need to know about Peru’s presidential election
LIMA, Peru — Peru’s presidential runoff election takes place Sunday with front-runner Keiko Fujimori, the 41-year-old daughter of former autocratic leader Alberto Fujimori, facing off against a prominent economist and former prime minister, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Here are five things you need to know about the election in this Andean nation: 1. There’s a dad issue looming over the vote. The appeal of Keiko — usually referred to by just her first name — is based on the hard-right legacy of her father, who was president from 1990 to 2000. He is revered by…Read more …

Corruption and Legacy in Lima As voters in Peru head to the polls, the country might elect a controversial candidate — Keiko Fujimori. But has she convinced the electorate that she’s shed the shady past of her father’s presidency?

Corruption and Legacy in Lima As voters in Peru head to the polls, the country might elect a controversial candidate — Keiko Fujimori. But has she convinced the electorate that she’s shed the shady past of her father’s presidency?
LIMA — For a candidate with a compelling need to prove her personal integrity, Keiko Fujimori has been running an odd campaign ahead of Peru’s June 5 presidential runoff election. The key challenge weighing her down — a “very large rucksack,” as she has described it — is the profoundly corrupt legacy of her father, former right-wing strongman Alberto Fujimori who was imprisoned for 25 years in 2009 for serious human rights violations and bribing crooked journalists to attack his opponents. It was during his time as president of Peru, from 1990 to…Read more …

Why Some Peruvians Worry Keiko Fujimori Will Turn the Country into a Narco Paradise

Why Some Peruvians Worry Keiko Fujimori Will Turn the Country into a Narco Paradise
Peruvians choose their new president on Sunday amid dire warnings that frontrunner Keiko Fujimori, if she wins, would oversee surging corruption and cocaine money penetrating the highest levels of government. Polls currently put the daughter of jailed 1990s strongman Alberto Fujimori narrowly in front of her only rival in the runoff election, Pedro Pablo Kuczysnki, a 77-year-old Wall Street investor and former prime minister. Keiko has been careful to distance her Popular Force party from some of her father's most controversial actions, including his 1992 shuttering of congress, running death squads, and massive…Read more …