Brothers intent on taking control of Peru*** Ecuador's election last November of President Lucio Gutierrez, who directed a coup in 2000, and the apparent success of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, himself a former coup leader, have encouraged the Humala movement, political observers say.
"The Humalas follow in the line of Chavez and Gutierrez," said Boris Romero, editor of Sintesis, a financial daily. "They have a left-wing nationalistic message that could work. Ollanta is certainly someone to watch in the 2006 elections."
Antauro Humala insists that everything he does is meant to advance his brother's cause. "Ollanta is like a sharp stone in a tight shoe," Antauro Humala said. "He was reinstated into the army and sent to France out of necessity, to avoid competition." He added: "Ollanta is the word. I am only the preacher."***
U.S. attention to Latin America sinks to new lows***Bush administration officials say U.S. government interest in the region has grown in recent years, and to some extent they are right. They concede that it was derailed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but add that it will be restored in the coming weeks with Friday's signing in Miami of the U.S.-Chile free trade agreement, the planned visits of Lula and Kirchner to Washington and Bush's presence at a special hemispheric summit in Mexico at the end of the year. These events require a lot of preparation, which will require high-level attention, senior U.S. officials told me. Maybe so. More importantly, though, the explosive growth of the U.S. Hispanic population will force the U.S. government to look south.***