Lefty Leads Fujimori Scion in Peru Vote

Ollanta Humala leads by roughly 5%; recount could loom
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2011 5:02 PM CDT
Ollanta Humala Leads Keiko Fujimori in Peru Presidential Election
Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori waves to supporters after casting her ballot in Lima, Peru, Sunday June 5, 2011. Peruvians voted Sunday between Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala.   (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)

Peru went to the polls today in a heated presidential election that put a leftist former military officer in a slight lead over the daughter of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, reports Reuters. Early returns gave Ollanta Humala roughly a 52% lead over Keiko Fujimori's 47%, but overseas votes could factor and a lengthy recount is possible.

Humala led a 2000 revolt against the elder Fujimori, who was credited with Peru's economic growth but eventually convicted of corruption. Humala has tied Keiko Fujimori, just 36 years old, to her father's government, but has had to downplay his own radical past. (More Keiko Fujimori stories.)

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