Peru chooses its new president today for the next five years. I was in Ayacucho, Peru when the United States voted in 2004, and I'm here still in 2006. Most Peruvians can access the Internet, mostly through internet cabinas that rent out computers for about $.30 an hour, but the election didn’t spur creative internet uses and advances like it did in the United States during the last election.

The most I've seen on the internet are a few not so far reaching political blogs on the race, and some email discussion with hundreds of folks CC'd on messages arguing that Lourdes should not be president because her father may or may not have been in prison for corruption charges several years ago. Word of mouth does certainly travel quickly, surely helped out by email. This was particularly apparent when Ayacucho said no to Lourdes Flores and the gigantic stage she built to campaign on, the price of which could have been better used to start a hopeful development project in one of the poorer, agriculture-based states of Peru.

There were no streams of online donations of record amounts either, which was expected in a country where getting a credit card is difficult. But there were talks of "where did he, a military guy, get all his money" and "her family is independently wealthy, but I'm not sure what they did to get there." Rumors of the United States and Venezuela financing candidates upset voters, which wasn’t helped that there was no way to see where the money did come from.

It will soon be decided whether the Free Trade Agreement - Tratado de Libre Comercio - will go into effect between the United States and Peru, the details of which are still not completely open to the public. Yet we do see government propaganda saying it's good for Peru because exports will increase and more Peruvians will be able to stay in the country, rather than immigrating to the United States, because the agreement will create more jobs.

I was mulling over this issue last night when before cooking my wife dinner, I went to the store and was able to buy a couple of beers even though we've been under ley seca (a law banning the sale of alcohol) since Thursday. As I walked back to my apartment I thought more about how I just bought two Brahma beers imported from Brazil, which did not exist in the market until last year. And I didn't even have the choice to buy Cristal, the Peruvian (but now owned by multinational Baccus) local favorite.

Brahma has taken over sponsorship of national hit prime time programs like Asi Es La Vida - a sitcom based in Lima, which has boosted its sales and presence. A few months ago Cristal was on every shelf in the studio's convenience store – but now has been replaced by Brahma. I can’t even get Cusquena, my favorite Peruvian beer, in Ayacucho and it’s only available on tap in one karaoke joint down the road, but if you go there you have to sing.

Peru has a lot of energy for change, and a lot will be decided for Peru's future in the next few years. The three presidential front runners have distinct platforms. Lourdes Flores Nano, a centrist, was chased out of Ayacucho two weeks ago for the stage debacle and had to duck in her car to avoid being hit by rotten vegetables and even rocks.

Ollanta Humala, a military commander and lefty nationalist, is the favored leader in Ayacucho and many other poor, rural provinces. But many view him as a radical and he has sparked rumors that if elected he'll expel all gays, foreigners, and foreign companies and still manage higher exports for the country. Overall, Ollanta has maintained his temperament and poise incredibly despite the vicious attacks by the media itself, for fear of their future as foreign entities in Peru, if he's elected.  

I’ve heard Alan Garcia, a former President of Peru and the third place candidate in this election, referred to as a murderer because of some ways he wanted to combat the Shining Path, a violent Maoist group fighting during his first term. One alleged way being to bomb the city of Ayacucho where the group started, which just happens to be where I live now.  Garcia is the leader of the APRA political party. His most remarkable campaign spotlight was the use of Reggaeton music in a campaign ad where star-symbols danced to the wildly popular music. Garcia, who tries to appeal to the youth of Peru as its driving force, was ridiculed by other parties for the pop-culture advertisement. Ironically, Garcia in speech and composure seems the most distanced from the youth, at least compared to Ollanta and Lourdes.

By tomorrow - Monday - Peru will have chosen a new leader, or it will have two candidates chosen for a run off in May. In a country that has exhibited remarkable economic growth during the last several years while neighboring countries' markets have failed, and at the same time has opened its doors to more foreign investment and products, Peru is about to choose between several distinct leaders. The new leader will have the challenging responsibility to effectively manage huge potential growth, while making sure this growth, until now felt by few, reaches those most in need of feeling such growth, before hopes are lost and faith and trust in leadership fails, along with the markets, and along with the potential realized by everyone’s hopeful outlook today.