| Abstrakt: |
PUSHING BACK A BOYISH mop of black hair and flashing a campaign-poster smile, Alan Garcia Perez leaned toward the outstretched hands of the cheering crowd and celebrated the survival of democracy in Peru. ''This is a vote of hope,'' he declared. ''The people have demonstrated that they want change within democracy.'' It was the night of April 14, outside his campaign headquarters in downtown Lima, and Garcia - a 36-year-old social democrat with little previous experience in government - had just staged an overwhelming electoral triumph, winning the Peruvian presidency with more votes than the eight other candidates combined. Still more important, his self-confidence had proved contagious: the deep sense of pessimism that has transfixed Peru in recent years had, at least temporarily, been dispelled. In the darkness beyond the brightly lit podium, his chanting supporters urged him on to new flights of oratory. ''The country will advance,'' he responded, raising his arm as if to point the way, ''the people will be saved, the gates of history will open up and our future will be made.'' It was a moment for him to savor. On July 28, Garcia suc-ceeds President Fernando Belaunde Terry and his real challenges begin. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
