
Goodbye 2015!
December 31, 2015#NYC #HotSauce Expo 2016
May 5, 2016Yesterday, Sunday Abril 11th, I made my way to Queens College to be a responsible citizen of Peru and voted for the next president of our country. Currently the political climate in Peru is very agitated and it has been like that ever since the elections campaigns started. Not only politicians have been going back and forth against each other, but the people from Peru have been very politically involved. It seems like everyone is aware of what’s going on right now, and what has been going on for a while, and what they don’t want to repeat. Unfortunately, corruption is a big and live element in our governments, not only presidents but congress representatives have been charged for this, and it’s a darn shame.
People are fed up with it, men and women, young and old, have unified to raise their voices against what has been a repetitive pattern where politicians have not been representing us but have been focusing on their own personal matters and interests. Now people are talking, either on social media or with their peers, even taking the streets to march against former governments and their lack of care and excessive abuse against our people.
For this reason, I decided to vote and do my duty as a Peruvian along with thousands of others who came from different boroughs to support their candidates and representatives. I was very proud to see how many people were there. The hard work of our Consulate of Peru in NYC was palpable but unfortunately many people didn’t attended to open their designated voting tables and caused long lines and disappointed crowds. However, many remained patient and waited until it was their turn to go in and choose our next leader.
As of now, Keiko Fuhimori, representing the conservative right wing and daughter of former president Alberto Fujomori who is currently serving time in prison for corruption and human rights violations, leads the votes. Second runner up is Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, former minister of Economy and well known economist, representing the center. Veronika Mendoza, who fell short and landed in third place represented the left wing with and whose proposals for equality and economic growth polarized the voters. Keiko and PPK will compete again for the second time and Peruvians will decide on June 5th who will rule and represent our country until 2021.
It seems that we all meet again for this second and last round of voting. I want to give a shout out to all the people who worked hard and did their best for things to run smoothly yesterday, for those who volunteered and especially those who came out to be part of these elections. Ultimately, we all want the best for our country, although we don’t live there we were born there and we want prosperity, growth and a better future for Peru and our fellow Peruvians.
Check out my featured on Vivala about yesterday’s elections.