La Esquina del Movimiento

In the first opinion polls of the presidential run-off race, Alan Garcia has 57 percent and Ollanta Humala has 43 percent, according to the Apoyo polling agency. Humala is much stronger in provinces than in Lima. In a telling sidelight, 14 percent of those interviewed said that they would vote black or invalid, while 7 percent did not express a preference. Those votes may hide additional votes for Humala. See this El Comercio story for details. In English, Bloomberg , MercoPress and Indian Country Today.

The second round will be held on June 4.

We will now have a presidential run-off elections between Ollanta Humala and Alan Garcia. Both have a tainted personal history -- the first as a military frontline commander in the Huallaga valley who in all likelihood commited or condoned human rights abuses, and the second as a young politician who wasted a historial opportunity to consolidate democracy in the country.

Pick the lesser of two evils -- it would have to be Garcia. Although I have been especially critical of Garcia's first term in office, I still see him as capable of managing government -- just as long as he takes his meds. You could even argue that the guy may actually have learned from his mistakes. These days he looks so tame compared to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez or Bolivian president Evo Morales. Of course, the deepest fear is whether the APRA part can be kept on a tight leash and not fall back into the pattern of corruption and incompetence that tainted the 1985-1990 term in power.

Mitch Teplitsky's Soy Andina: "Soy Andina is an exuberant cross-cultural road trip, bursting with traditional music and dance rarely seen outside the country. But the core story is intimate and universal: a yearning for roots and connection in turbulent times." Mitch has been working on this documentary for years, a real labor of love for Peru and its people. I can't even remember when I first chances across his site. I think I posted something about his work. He tells me that he's on the home stretch for completing the film.