ROSABETH
JUNE 1,2021
Vargas Llosa: "If we elect Mr. Castillo in the second round, there will probably be no more free elections in Peru"
The Nobel Prize in Literature considered that this is probably the "most important electoral process in the history of Peru."
Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature, participated this Monday -through a recording- in the signing of the Oath for Peru made by the presidential candidate for Popular Force, Keiko Fujimori, in the city of Arequipa. In his participation, he considered that, if the contender for Peru Libre, Pedro Castillo, becomes President of the Republic, "probably" Peru will not have "more free elections" in its history.
“Among Peruvians, I have been one of those who has most critically and systematically censured Mr. Alberto Fujimori since two years after assuming power he staged a coup; however, in these elections I am going to vote for Keiko Fujimori and I have asked my compatriots to do the same. What has happened in the meantime for me to change my mind? I think the reason is that if we elect Mr. Castillo in this second round, there will probably no longer be any more free elections in the history of Peru, "said the writer.
“I do not want my country to be the Venezuela of these days in the future, a potentially extremely rich country from which at least five and a half million people have fled to find work and not starve to death. Isn't this the case in Cuba? Isn't Cuba a country that for 60 years has lived a systematic dictatorship that has greatly impoverished what was the fourth largest economy in Latin America? ”He questioned.
In this sense, Vargas Llosa maintained that Keiko Fujimori "has made sufficient explanations of the mistakes he has made in the past" and has promised to respect the constitutional provisions established by the country.
“She has committed herself in an absolutely categorical way to respect the constitutional provisions that exist in Peru to automatically abandon power after five years, she has committed in these years to systematically respect the right of criticism in the press, she has committed to respect the Judiciary and not to lay off or renew these institutions fundamental to democracy in the five years that he would be in government. He has also promised not to pardon Vladimiro Montesinos, who committed the worst murders and robberies that characterized this period, ”he emphasized.
Finally, he reiterated that Keiko Fujimori represents "freedom and progress" in these elections, while Pedro Castillo "dictatorship and backwardness."