I got some good news on from Peru yesterday that may
interest you:
Two Amazonian Indians have been named candidates to
the Peruvian Congress on Javier Perez de Cuellar's list.
(Perez de Cuellar is of course the former UN Secretary
General who is now running against Alberto Fujimori
in his bid for re-election.) They are Evaristo Nugkuag,
an Aguaruna and Miqueas Mishari, an Ashaninka.
The Peruvians have an election system that is a bit
strange (to Americans at least). Presidential candidates
name a list of people for Congress - in Perez's case the
list is 120 names long. Then, based on the number of
votes the Perez list gets, people get named to Congress,
starting at 1 and moving downward until the candidate's
votes have run out. Both Mishari and Nugkuag are in the
90s on the list, so they will only win this way if there is
a Perez landslide.
BUT... At the polls people also vote for individual
candidates, and if an individual candidate gets enough
personal votes, he/she effectively jumps place on the
list and gets a seat in the new Congress. SO... Candidates
with a high number on the list but who have strong
constituencies can still get elected.
This is, as far as I know, the first time that indigenous
leaders in Peru have been invited to the list of a major
candidate (or at least the first time they've agreed to
participate).
The polls are on April 9, and although Perez is currently
behind, Nugkuag is looking to raise funds and do some
campaigning to turn the indigenous vote out. We'll see
what happens.
Edward