Peruvian President's
Performance in
Catastrophe Criticized
Peruvian president Alan
Garcia has been
criticized for his
excessive prominence and
bad work to mitigate the
damage caused by an
earthquake, and victims
have complained about
poor distribution of
aid.
Critics said the
president is trying to
use the tragedy - more
than 500 deaths - with
political ends to stop
his lack of popularity
in surveys and to
distract public opinion
from the real problems.
Local media,
parliamentarians and
analysts questioned
Garcia"s constant public
appearances and defying
tone when asked about
the government"s
inefficiency to help the
earthquake victims.
The newspaper La Primera
pointed out that
analysts think Garcia
could be seeking to
improve his low ranking
in the surveys by
staying in Ica, a region
affected by the
earthquake, where he
traveled the day after
the quake a week ago.
It added that the
president intends to
stay in the region
despite criticisms of
media overexposure and
the requests by Ica
Governor Romulo Triveño
and Parliamentarian
Edgar Nuñez, of the
governing Aprista Party,
for him to return to
Lima.
La Primera Director
Cesar Levano criticized
Garcia for his
"insulting clumsiness in
front of foreign
collaborators and his
publicity walks with
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe, an
unconditional friend of
Bush"s and the head of a
State that violates
human rights
systematically." For his
part, Augusto Alvarez,
the director of the
newspaper Peru 21,
quoted Garcia when he
criticized the use of
quake victims for
political propaganda,
and contrasted the
president"s statements
with his attitude, which
appears to be aimed at
turning the catastrophe
into a political show.
Analysts Eduardo Toche
and César Valega agreed
that Garcia must resume
his presidential tasks
and leave the affected
region in the hands of
the Civil Defense,
instead of using the
tragedy to distract
public opinion from the
country"s problems.
Ollanta Humala, leader
of the opposition
Nationalist Party, said
he suspected that some
government agency is
behind the slander that
his party and the
Venezuelan government
distributed canned food
bearing propaganda on
it.
The maneuver would be
aimed at attenuating the
negative impact of
criticisms of the bad
distribution of aid,
Humala said.
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