Emina and I were met bright and early by our new Peruvian National Police body guard, Abel. Once again, he was distant and formal... for about 3 minutes. In no time he was chatting and laughing and happy to introduce us to all his colleagues at each school.

Emina and I started at Jose Pardo y Barreda Secundaria and Primaria to watch the titulares set up and open the polls. Everyone seemed organized and by 8:15 or 8:30 pretty much all the polls at those two schools were open and conducting the elections. Only one table opened very late. Some of the members of the mesa arrived late, and when they went to the Centro de Copio to pick up the election materials (a central place that stored the electoral materials, under guard from about noon the day before) they found the door locked. ONPE officials must have been busy elsewhere. So they were rushing to get open and after a bit of confusion opened an hour and 15 minutes late at 9:15.

Emina and I visited all the voting tables, usually two per classroom, with our checklist. We checked to see how smooth the opening was, if electoral materials were missing, if there were any incidents, etc. We also recorded how many personeros were present. Most tables had representatives from both political parties. We drove Abel to his school just outside of Chincha Alta (not one we were covering) to vote. He had to give his sidearm to the armoury while he entered the classroom where he was designated to vote. Then it was back to work!

At one o'clock we phoned Carlos, our coordinator who was working in Pisco and Ica, with the approximate percentages of voters who had voted by that time. Between 12:30 and 2 pm, when we were asking those questions, between 50 and 75% of people had voted. In this way we visited all seven schools in Chincha that hosted voting stations and a total of 247 voting booths, or mesas. There was really nothing to report. Everything ran smoothly and the mood was light and easy going. Because there was only two candidates to choose from, and no Congressional vote and Andean Parliament election, it was very quick and easy for everyone involved. We would chat with Transparencia and Defensoria del Pueblo folks and compare notes whenever we would run into them.

At 3 pm Emina and I returned to the ONPE offices to observe the setting of the computer database material to zero. After the count is finished at each mesa, the information is brought to ONPE, who review the actas, or signed declarations from each mesa by the titulares and personeros that everything is in order and the count is verified. If an acta is properly signed and verified, then the data is inputed by the people working the banks of computers, and the results sent back to Lima. The vote results came very quickly, with about 80% of the vote available that night. Anyhow, the computers are set to zero in front of JNE and ONPE staff, and Transparencia, Defensoria del Pueblo, and OAS observers.

We then watched the closing of the polls and the count at the schools we started off with in the morning. Again, the mood was light, and everyone was in a good mood. (But hungry - ONPE doesn't provide titulares/miembros de la mesa with food. If family members weren't able to bring food they were very hungry. The personeros, or scrutineers, were usually given food by the political parties.) The table I focused on closed its doors at 4:05, and the count was finished by 4:30. (For more info on how voting and counting works, see my entry from April.) After a few goodbyes and some phoning in of results, we were finished, and quite exhausted.

Our cheerful police escort took us to his house to meet his family and showed us around Chincha a little, and introduced us to some local food. None of the tables we were at were part of the quick count for the OAS. If Ewald blogs, you can read more about quick counts then, or see my April entries. Chincha was very relaxed. No one expected problems, and none happened.

Another observer told us the next day that he was in the Huanuco area, where Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) remnants are still active. He had a major police and military escort - a convoy of vehicles - to get to certain remote communities. At certain key ambush points winding through the mountains, the military and police would get out of the vehicles and take up defensive positions while the convoy slowly continued. None of that in Chincha!

So now after several meetings, our work in Peru is almost finished. The count is still very close. Apparently 97% of the vote has been finalized. Garcia's lead has dropped to about 52.5% and Humala has 47.5%. For the results, see the ONPE page here.. Garcia has claimed victory, but Humala has not totally conceeded.

I haven't got sick at all this time around - just exhausted. It really makes for a better experience when I'm feeling good. The OAS press conference is tonight. I may post a little update after that, otherwise, adios!

-- Derrick Martens

With only two candidates and no Congressional and Andean Parliament vote, the ballot will be tiny (as opposed to a ballot more than 2 feet long and a foot and a half wide for the first round), and counting will be efficient. The political climate is tenser, with all sorts of accusations in the media.

As OAS election observers, we had the opportunity to attend the closing rallies for both Humala and Garcia. Each man's security teams were pretty happy to see us and ushered us past the riot police who formed lines at various access points, and through crowds of party organizers, right onto the stage. (See Ewald's reflections below.) We watched from the sides of the Humala stage, and were right in the middle of the packed stage for Garcia's closing, which involved releasing a pigeon from Garcia's hand (which subsequently pooped on the head of some supporter who was also on the stage), fireworks, salsa dancing, and crowds of thousands. (Or even many tens of thousands?) The former congressperson from the US said it was like old time campaigning.

Emina and I are the OAS observers for Chincha, (or Chincha Alta) a small city of about 120 000 between Lima and Pisco. We spent the day today making the rounds to the seven schools in Chincha which are being used as polling stations. We chatted with the guards (police and military) and ONPE and JNE officials. All the electoral materials had arrived and everyone was cheerily setting up. No problems here, so far anyhow. The mood was light, and no one expects complications or troubles.

That said, the police still thought it important to give us police protection. So we met the officer yesterday, who was stone cold: rigid, formal, and strict-looking. He sat in the back of the van by himself when he got in. In a matter of minutes he crawled up around the middle seat to sit next to Emina and was eagerly looking over my shoulder at maps and addresses and helping our driver locate the schools.

Today he was in plainclothes when he and the driver arrived at our hotel to pick us up. He seemed to be newly good buddies with our driver, giving us tips on where to eat and all sorts of historical info on the area. He became a guide, introducing us to everyone at each school we visited, and helping to explain who were and what the OAS was doing. He even guided us through the crowded Chincha market and helped me pick out a belt for my so-far belt-less pants. Unfortunately, he won't be "protecting" us tomorrow, and we will have another guard.

Now I must really go to bed, as tomorrow is the big day, and, to be overly dramatic, the beginning of a new (or at least different) Peru.

-- Derrick Martens

Peru has 28, 300, 000 people, of whom 80% are Catholic, 45% are indigenous, 37% are mestizo, and 15% are white; 87.7% of people are literate. Official languages are castellano (what spanish is called in Peru and some other Latin American countries), Quechua, and Aymara. The last two are aboriginal languages. Quechua was the language of the Incan Empire, and apparently is spoken by 10 million people in the Andes, including in neighbouring countries. In Pampas, where I was in April, election officials needed to speak Quechua because of the very large indigenous population. Many people's first language is Quechua.

For the first round of voting, which we observed in April, Ollanta Humala ( Union Por el Peru) received 30.61% of the vote, Alan Garcia (Partido Aprista Peruano) received 24.32% and Lourdes Flores (Unidad Nacional) 23.81%. Thus, no single candidate had more than the 50% of the valid votes necessary to win. Therefore, the top two candidates, Humala and Garcia, are currently facing off in the run-off, "secunda vuelta," election. The polls place them very close, leading to some tensions.

According to materials from Transparencia, the poorest regions of Peru during this electoral campaign are Cajamara in the north (74.2% poverty), Huanuco (77.6%) and Huancavelica (84.4%) in central Peru, and Puno (79.2%) in the south. As you can well imagine, the results of the first round were widely related to poverty levels in the country.

Hope you enjoyed it.

--- Derrick Martens

So I've been in Peru for a few days now, I am sorry for not posting sooner but our schedule is very tight. Some new realities and considerations have come to light in this the second round. Both the two presidential candidates have been working hard to get ahead, they are neck and neck in the polls and this means that there is will likley be a tension.

Shortly after we arrived we were again given a crash course in what to expect in this second round. There is a hightened fear that protest and or violence may errupt. To be realistic about this kind of thing though, traditionally tensions arise between people argueing about politcs at more of the local level and this would most likley not touch the observers. Security however is emphasized, no midnight strolls with the company vest I suppose.

Like last time there are some very interesting people on this mission, for instance there is a former U.S. congressman and his wife, a very decent man. There are also many volunteers from embassies who have come to show there support; they some from all over Mexico, Puerto Rico the United States etc. There are also a good number of Canadians (from the Embassy here), I enjoy these men and women very much. They always seem so happy to talk to you and very polite. In fact a trade officer named "Rob" invited me to his place to celebrate his 30th birthday, that was nice.

I have been stationed in a place called Pisco, not too far away from where I was sent the last time (Ica if you remeber). Derrick an Emmina are about an hour North of us in Chincha. Today I had the chance to go back to Ica and vist with a foreign diplomat from Puerto Rico, Juan. Carlos and I brought him up to speed on what he is expected to do and the like. This run off election is much less complicated than the first round mianly because we know where to go, the political actors know who we are and want to help and yes we were given body guards once more, this time we got three of them.

It is now 11pm and I have to get up to observe the opening of the polling place tomorrow (6:45am). It will be a long day but lucky for us you can find some pretty good coffee in Peru (incidentally you can find a lot of Nescafe too, this I'm not too found of). There is some talk of finaly going to do some touristy things here in Peru after the election, truthfully I have not had much opurtunity to see the country in this way and am looking forward to this. We expect that the elction will go smoothly in this part of the country but this is not the case everywhere.

I just remembered some things I wanted mention. We had a very interesting event that we were asked to attend at the Catholic University in Peru. This was Dr. Axworthy's idea, it was a kind of bi-lateral University dialogue. We had a kind of questions and answers seession with students at the university. They asked us all sorts of things about the election and Canadian politcs, it ended up being a lot of fun. We were so very imperessed by the members a Peruvian NGO that monitors the election. Directly translated they are called Transparency, they are all young, energetic and smart, it was a real honour too be asked for our comments and points of view in the company of such devoted and hard working youth.

Another interesting event we attended was the closing of the Humalla's and Garcia's campaigns. These were incredible! Thousands of people filling a square chanting a screaming, banners a drums, the pagentry was a sight to behold. We walked right through the throngs of people, back stage and then ON TO THE STAGE. It was incedible to watch from such a distance.

I must get some sleep Canada,

I will write soon

Ewald

All of the students from the University of Winnipeg who were Organization of American States election observers are heading back to Peru for the run-off election. Remi, Ewald, Geoff, and I (Derrick) are joined by Remi's brother Ben who is visiting here and may volunteer for the OAS on his own dime. Emina and Jennifer are held over in Toronto right now, due to very bad winter fog in Lima.

And we were close to not making it as well. After running the gauntlet of a dozen armed customs folks with guns in the loading tunnel in the Toronto airport, after discovering that we were leaving early due to fog in Lima and running to catch our flight, we settled in a for a long direct trip.

As we approached Lima we found out that there was some serious fog in Lima - why is fog an issue when we land aircraft in bad winter conditions in Canada, I thought - and our pilot explained that we would make one attempt to land and if it didn't work, we would head up to Chiclayo to land. And if the fog was too serious there, we would land in Ecuador... and then the pilot refreshed all our memories on emergency exit procedures.

Needless to say, all of a sudden the ground appeared under us and we were down. It turns out we were the only flight to have landed that night, as all others were cancelled, delayed, or diverted. I found out later that not only does the thick winter Lima fog make navigation very difficult, but the runway surface becomes very slippery. Another OAS observer later told me her plane was only a few feet above the runway when it roared back to life and flew to Chiclayo, where she was waylaid for a day until she was flown back.

Enough said about airplanes. We arrived a day early, so after some sleep Remi, Ben, Ewald and I rented a car and visited Pachacamac, not far south of Lima. It was truly an Indiana Jones experience (minus the action) as we drove around to different sites in this sand-dune covering pre-Incan city. Our guide joined us in our tiny red Fiat and led a conversational style tour of the site. We got out and looked at the tiny portion of temples, administrative centre, and houses that have been excavated. Yet you can turn around and spot dunes all around in the desert, and see how, for example, that one dune is likely another house, with the evidence at your feet in the form of a few bricks sticking out of the sand, while another huge dune is might be another administrative centre. It was capped off by a climb up the Incan Temple of the Sun. The site was absorbed or conquered by many different groups of people. It was first created approximately 600 AD, and was controlled at various times by the Wari, Ishmay, Incas, and even the Spaniards. The Spaniards, apparently led by Hernando Pizarro, briefly occupied the place and robbed the temples and buildings of all their gold and silver.

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow is a long day of many meetings and a special dialogue between our group and students from Lima's Catholic University. More election-related updates coming soon.

-- Derrick Martens

The problems, what little there were, really began with the closing of the polls. It didn’t take long for voters in the school to finish voting, but many polls didn’t officially close until about 4:30 instead of 4:00 pm, as there was general confusion about what to do close them. Transparencia observers told me about 30 people arrived at the external gates after 4:00 pm and were unable to vote.

I monitored the counting at one particular mesa, partially because it had the highest numbers of Indian women who came down from the mountains, and I was curious to see how they voted.

There was considerable confusion figuring out how many ballots were used, and how many people voted. It was recounted several times, and was eventually decided to be 174 people out of 199. Some of the personeros were quite exasperated with the titulares. The personeros seemed to know a fair bit more about the counting process and had to give a lot of advice and suggestions. It took more time yet to agree on how many people voted. The signing of many actas (very large documents that have to be signed by the titulares and personeros and given to many different electoral bodies) took a lot of time, was also confusing, and took away another person who could have been used to help sort the ballots.

The steps in the whole ballot accounting process also seemed rather time consuming. First pulling the ballots out of the box, opening them, sorting them, counting, then ripping them, and finally sorting them into Presidential, Congressional, and Andean Parliament piles. Some personeros were helping tear ballots at mesas until they were stopped by ONPE.

I found that some titulares couldn’t write well, and lacked general confidence with writing (signing the actas) and were uncomfortable with numbers.

The single largest problem with the vote counting began as the sun started to set. The lights for half the mesas didn’t work (one section of the school), and as the ballot sorting took so long counting only began around 5:30 or so, and it became too dark to accurately count the results. Often the mesa president would try examining the ballot, declare it blank, and a personero would see a cross or “x” and tell them to check it again. The way people would say the votes, repeating the party, or clarifying who the party was, lead to more confusion and I don’t think the titular who was recording the count got it correct all the time. The mesa titulares eventually moved all the chairs, tables, and all ballots outside and tried to count by moonlight, which was very difficult, as you can imagine. Everyone was standing over the table, peering at the ballots. They were only marked with ballpoint pens. This made night-time counting rather difficult. Might I suggest a thick black marker instead?

During the final count of designated ballots the personeros ended up doing the official tally because the titular seemed unable to do so efficiently or accurately. I don’t think this made much difference in the final count. They were one vote off after the count, and everyone agreed (I was silent) to add a null vote to make it match.

However, there was no intentional manipulation of the vote that I could see, and at most the incompetencies may have caused only a few votes to be incorrectly counted. As it was, the voters at this station voted overwhelmingly for one particular candidate.

The counting of the Congressional votes began, and sometimes the lights would go on for 10 minutes or so. At other times the entire school would be plunged into darkness. This is what Ewald meant by his entry "Democracy by the Moonlight." I don't think he had time to tell my story when he was writing that day.

ONPE told me that the results of the presidential vote would not be sent until the congressional and Andean Parliament vote was completed, which was going to be several more hours. (We needed to leave to get to Huancayo for night.) Apparently the results were going to be driven to Huancavelica starting at midnight. This late transmission of election results is one of the reasons why it takes a couple weeks to come up with the final count. (Click on "Resumen Elecciones Presidenciales."

All in all, this was a very interesting day, and I had a wonderful time getting to know JNE, ONPE and Transparencia folks, all who liked to pose at voting stations. And no one seemed to mind when I photographed the move of the ballot counting to the moonlight! I unfortunately didn’t have time to take up offers of fish at people’s houses after the counting was all done. We were already heading up the steep, rough road to Huancayo.

Here is the OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Peru's Preliminary Report

- Derrick Martens

Remi based himself at the elementary school, where we had been assigned to run the Quick Count. Because the results of elections in many Latin American countries take quite a few days for all voting station results to come in, and to help determine if fraud has been committed after the polls close, the OAS uses a complex statistical formula to predict what the results should be, based on actual votes cast at specially selected mesas (poll booths), and has been over 99% accurate in all the elections it has been utilized in.

My understanding is that the Quick Count takes into account past election results and representative demographic populations and voting patterns; both populations of stable voting and those that may change in a given year but are still representative of a wider demographic.

Janin and her boyfriend went another 2 hours to the village of Salcabamba - it doesn’t appear in most guidebooks maps. Pampas appears in these maps but there aren’t any write-ups about it. Claudia agreed that I could monitor the Colegio Daniel Hernandez, even though we weren’t doing an official quick count there. Our job is not just to do Quick Counts, but report on general voting day conditions and problems.

Thankfully, there weren’t really any major problems to speak of – at least problems that would affect the integrity of the vote in a major way. (Although I did get a nasty sunburn, including 2nd degree burns by noon on election day. I hadn’t thought about the severity of the sun’s rays at such a high altitude.) I monitored 20 out of the 29 mesas at Colegio Daniel Hernandez, a high school named after a local artist.

Each mesa had 3 officials: a president and two members. There are 2 backup officials (titulares) assigned to each mesa in case some of the other don’t show up. Each mesa has all the names and photographs of these people displayed on the wall by the classroom door – to be sure there is no confusion or irregularities. All the voters who are to vote at each station are also listed publicly. There seemed to be a minimum of 150 and 300 possible electors at each mesa. In Peru, voting is considered both a right and an obligation and is thus compulsorary, with fines given to those who don’t show up – even if out of the country. (130 soles/$43 CDN for the former, $40 USD for the latter.) There are also fines for titulares who don’t show. (170 soles, or $57 CDN.)

The voting process is quite interesting. The voters list that the titulares have includes ID photos of every person. After every elector is given their massive ballot (it is larger than 11.5 x 17, rather like the size of a newspaper page) they go to the voting screen, where they mark off their candidate of choice for the president, for their local Congress member, and for their Andean Parliament party of choice. The Andean Parliament is made up of countries from Colombia, Equador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela. The Presidential ballot, which is of main concern to Peruvians and the OAS, lists the party name and has a box with the party symbol and a box with a picture of the presidential candidate. There were about 20 people vying for presidency, and 5 or 6 that had enough support going into the polls that they were given extensive media coverage. The electoral campaigning usually involved images of the party symbols with a X through it (such as bells, flowers, etc) to demonstrate what people should do with their ballot.

To get a really good look at how one votes, watch the short video "The Voter's 7 Steps." Also, check out the video on explaining the voting procedures for the military and police, who voted for the first time this year. They must turn in their weapons at the gate to the voting centre, and if in uniform, have the right to get to the front of the line. They vote quickly and go back to work.

So at Colegio Daniel Hernandez some mesa presidents were late in arriving, and all mesas opened late, between 8:30 am and 8:45 instead of 8:00 am, as mesa officials were still organizing materials. The atmosphere was pleasant. The titulares sometimes seemed unsure as to the most efficient way to run polls, and some were considerably slower than others. After each person votes, they place a fingerprint on the voters list, and sign it (or give another fingerprint if they can’t write their name.) They were also supposed to dip their middle finger in indelible ink as proof that the person voted. In this area they didn’t use the indelible ink, apparently because of threats of violence against those who voted. Thus, those issuing the threats would not necessarily know they had voted.

There was a lot of congestion in the morning on the upper floors of the school where half the mesas were, and some people had to wait in line for at least 20 minutes to vote. All mesas had personeros (political party scrutineers); some had up to seven. Many people seemed very pleased the OAS was observing in Pampas, and many others (voters, titulares, the police, Transparencia observers, JNE - in English, National Election Jury, which responds to complaints - officials) commented to me about how everyone was relaxed and everything was going well. Transparencia is a Peruvian election monitoring body that covers the whole country. I had nothing but admiration for their hardworking, dedicated members working to keep elections transparent, fair, and proper.

Around noon ONPE (National Office of Electoral Processes) put up more maps, which helped clarify where different mesas were. There was a person who introduced himself to me and a Transparencia observer as a Presidential Candidate. Transparencia didn’t seem impressed that he was introducing himself to people. A JNE official followed him out. Apparently there was also a woman verbally promoting a political party as well, although I did not witness this. This was the extent of illegal campaigning at the polling station. I didn’t see any printed propaganda, and I was very surprised at the lack of political t-shirts. This was something I thought would be uncontrollable, but it seemed voters knew to leave them at home.

One of the problems I encountered was the ballot boxes getting so full with the giant ballots that it was hard for electors to put their ballot in the box. Around lunch time it wasn’t uncommon for one or two mesa officials to be gone, leaving only one person to do all the duties at the mesa. However, there were not many people voting at this time so it did not seem to have had a negative effect on the voting process.

During the last hour of voting the police, who were guarding the school, opened the gates and allowed everyone in without checking for DNI, or voter ID. They also reduced the guards actively working from 4 to 1, which I thought wasn’t a good decision. Oh well, most things had run smoothly, and this didn't create any difficulty.

See Part II for more election day drama!

- Derrick Martens

As a B.C. native, I was very pleased to be traveling the steep winding roads that took us into the Andes directly from Lima. We traveled from near sea level to a literally heart pounding 4818 metres (almost 5 kilometres straight up) in about 4 hours. The environment transited from near desert conditions, to wet and rainy green cliffs and finally to snow and cloud so thick we could only see about 20 metres in front of the vehicle. The clouds and the many mining trucks on the narrow, but well-made, windy highway often slowed us down to 20 km/h.

That night in Huancayo, where Emina would do her election monitoring, the group of us began to experience signs that something wasn’t right with our bodies. Intestinal problems (understatement), dizziness, stomach aches, lightheadedness, shortness of breath. I know I’m not in tip-top shape, but running up a flight of stairs doesn’t normally leave me gasping for breath.

I like climbing mountains, so I was curious to hear about how high I was compared to mountains I’d climbed in BC and Alberta. Those mountains were about 2500 m at their peaks, and here in Peru the highway summit alone was almost twice as high! So we were likely experiencing the effects of a supersized combo of contaminated lettuce (washed with non-purified water) that was part of a meal, and altitude sickness. It really took the wind out of my sails for a few days. Claudia even brought an oxygen tank for emergencies. (We all gave it a shot.)

After a night in Huancayo, Remi and I headed to this little town/village called Pampas. We left the very smooth and modern highway for a steep gravel road that took us along steep cliffs and Indian woman working farms on incredibly steep land. Every so often there was a little brightly painted tiny cement block with a roof beside the road. Some of them had flowers. Even though Peruvians are very good drivers, evidently there were still plenty of accidents – and victims of gravel highway robberies.

Pampas is beautifully situated in a green valley at about 3500 metres. All the mountains are covered in such steep farms that it puts the Swiss to shame. Of course, picturesque steep mountain farms take an incredible amount of back-breaking human energy to harvest and till by hand tools. Pampas is in the middle of area which gave birth to Sendero Luminoso, a Maoist terrorist group that led assassinations and massacres against the government and villages that didn’t support their violent cause. Sendero Luminoso was most active in the 80s and early 90s in the conflict that led to between 40 000 and 60 000 deaths and disappearances. They aren’t too active right now, as their main leaders have been either killed or jailed. However in December Sendero Luminoso members attacked police in a local town and killed eight officers.

Our driver, Wilfredo, was from Pampas and did a great job of taking us to visit Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (or ONPE; similar to Elections Canada) and Transparencia officials. We also checked in with the local police and the Pampas military base, who have a manned machine gun pointing at the base of the nearby mountain.

More details on Election Day coming up.

- Derrick Martens

Day two, this was when we put 600kms on the rental's odometre. We travelled as far South as Santa Cruz and as far North as Chincha. We needed to find these polls and make phone calls ahead of time to ensure that we had a connection for the following day. Along the way we got a call from HQ informing us that Dr. Axworthy would be visiting Chincha so we headed to greet his convoy and report on our progress. We visted a school/polling place while we were there and talked to some local elections officials. After, Carlos and I drove down the coast.

He was hungry and inspired by all the palm trees and ocean air so decided it was time I try a local delicacy called Ceviche. This is essential uncooked fish that is soaked for ten minutes in lime juice. It is often served with red onions. I figured that I was already quite sick so what would I have to lose in tasting a tiny bit. It was outstanding, I encourage you all to try it if you get the chance. I also tried some of the best calamari and steamed trout the world has to offer. My reasoning is that I can not let my stomach take me hostage whenever it wants to so I showed it who was boss. Outraged by my audacity, my stomach responded as though I had just eated a handful of thumbtacks but I think it knows who makes the decision around here.

After a brief coastal drive on our way to meet an American foreign trade officer from the U.S. government, we found oursleves in a place called Paracas. This place is famous for an off shore Island populated by sea gulls and....wait for it....penguins! Yes Penguins drift all the way to Peru from the South Pole by way of the Humboldt Current, this current is also responsible for Peru's stable climate as I discovered. A climate so stable in fact that designs carved onto the desert floor 1,500 years ago remain to this day. The are visible only from the air, the are incredibly elaborate; some of the most popular of the designs are a image of a monkey and one of a humming bird. They're called the Nazca Lines.

Bob, the American foreign trade officer was doing some elction monitoing of his own and needed a quick briefing from us on some stuff. He was kind enough to direct me to the gift shop and pretty much take me by the hand and find some medicine for me, thanks Bob. These unmarked little white pills seemed to do the trick. It was then back to Ica; ahead of me was another full day of feeling a little better, a hot hotel room, feverish sleep, a ceiling fan working hard for its money and an encouraging 5:30 a.m. wake-up, not complaining mind you.

E-Day the Main Event. At the shreak of dawn, we head out to the a polling station to witness the set up. All the polling places were to be operational by 8 a.m., this was delayed slightly, but most of the people working these stations knew exactly what they were doing. We then travelled from polling place to polling place walking around and having people approach us and talk to us about the elction. I noticed at one point that the ballot box was being carried around out of the school room. As it turns out they did this to allow a disabled man the chance to vote, pretty reasonable if you ask me and it was accompanied by scrutineers and officials. Every one I encountered was very open about having me examine the process, on one occasion people clapped when I entered the room, most just smiled and stared at me when they thought I wasn't looking. Together Carlos and I must have visited 150 stations throughout the day. It was a lot of hard work. We eventually returned to the station we had initially opened and observed the closing and counting process.

As it turns out the counting was exceptionally fast, perhaps because the OAS is in the room watching, we were done by 7:30, the other Canadians reported that they had to do their counting by the light of an oil lamp and when the oil ran out they counted by the moonlight, very romantic. They claimed that there was a unique problem in their area with people having difficulty crossing the river with their makeshift rafts. Our e-day went off without a hitch, we had only a few minor issues that are really not worth mentioning (although this does not go for all the regions of Peru). Dr. Axworthy gave the entire process a passing grade.

We bade farwell to Ica and began our trip back to Lima that same night. We stopped to see how Bob was doing in Paracus, he and I got to talking about U.S. trade policy in Latin America, fascinating stuff but he seemed to known a lot more about this topic than I did so I let him do most of the talking. We said our goodbyes and hit the road. I slept, the driver and Carlos chatted and four hours later with one very bad back from sleeping with my head on against a glass window, we were back in Lima.

The following day I thought I'd make myself useful so I hung out in the OAS offices in the Hotel. I tried to stay out of everyone's way for the most part but then I got my big chance, making copies of press releases for the the press conference. I worked with haste and affection and fervor and diligence; I dare say that those were some of the finest copies ever made. My really big break came later when I was informed that I'd be doing an interview on the CBC. So I called in and chatted for a while, these interviews are always so much fun because you get to talk about yourself and never consider the other person. A regular conversation can lose steam, a radio conversation with a good host will keep things cooking indefinitely. There should always be a few radio show hosts at every party you ever go to so that you always have someone to keep the conversation rolling; you'll never have to stare at your shoes or play with that lost thread on you shirt sleeve.

To the press conference and "football diplomacy". Press conference gave the election procedure mostly a thumbs up but this seemed to be eclipsed by the protest incident. Presidential candidate Humala and wife, trapped in the polling place, could not leave because of massive tension between two mobs in the polling place, so the OAS volunteered to intervene. By now I'm sure you have all read the story in the Winnipeg Free Press and it looks like we have a new form of diplomacy, the ongoing joke is that our next mission will require us to come equipped with hockey pads and sticks.

And so we arrive at today. April 11th. Going home. Flyin' out at 4 in the morning. The OAS threw us a cocktail party, the Canadian ambassador came, we got certificates thanking us for all our hard work. I took the plunge and bought a some lama wool something or another. Winnipeg, I miss you.

I think I'll write one more blog from the road. Bye Lima.

Ewald

YOUR MISSION EWALD IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT...... Friday morning was the big day, I met a Mr. Carlos Rosales at around 10 a.m. Carlos and I hit it off immediately, he is originally from El Salvador but was educated at Canadian and American universities. He is presently the press secretary for the president of El Salvador. We hit the road and I started asking him questions about his job and other various things. He was charming, polite and extemely bright and never once seemed annoyed at my incessant questioning. Rare is it indeed that one gets to spend three days with the message man of a Central American government, so even if he was annoyed, I wouldn't have cared that much - I would have kept grilling him.

The ride to Ica is about four and half hours through the desert and at parts along the coast. Carlos pointed out that it looks like the moon; pretty close I would guess. Our driver kept giving us little insider tips about the things we passed by. He pointed out the huge shanty town on the outskirts of Lima as we left; these are of course migrant workers seeking financial opportunites in the city. It was a humbling sight. As I mentioned, this coastal highway is a gallery of contrasts. I saw gated vacation resorts, equipped with guards, next to Inca archeological sites. Farmers loading bundles of sticks onto donkeys next to massive billboards, deserts, and ocean.

Half a roast chicken with some fries. Not particularily Peruvian one might say but this is standard, this and Chinese food?! Tastes great but you will be in the fetal postion in a matter of hours, take my word for it. Upon arriving in Ica, we found a suitable hotel, ironically a hotel that produces a Peruvian spirit known as Pisco. It's made from distilled grapes, tastes great and costs next to nothing. In fact it cost us nothing at all because there was a national ban on the sale of alcohol in effect for the three days leading up to the election, enough time for everybody to stock up and then run out by E-day or so the logic goes. So here we were in grape country, grape and Prickly pear country (the seeds of the prickly pear are so hard you just have to swallow them all at once and there are many of these stony devils in each bite) and we can't try the local schnapps because we are respectable OAS representatives so we abstained until the ban was lifted, no Pisco for us. This is just as well considering that alcohol was the last thing on my mind while my stomach decided what it wanted to do: hot flash, cold shivers, cramp? What's it gonna be? Lucky for me my fever broke by the second night, then it broke again on the third and fourth nights.

OK back to the mission. Carlos and I woke up early on Friday and hit the steets. We visted the offices of all the major players in the Ica election. ONPE (the equivalent to Elections Canada), an NGO called Transparencia (a group of activists who monitor the elections in the same way the OAS does, only they don't get a chauffered car and diplomatic immunity), we then visited the District Attorney's office ( nice guy, had a really grand medallion around his neck so that we knew he was important), we visited the chief of police and a few other folks. For the most part we introduced ourselves and let them know that the OAS was in town; they were very receptive. The OAS has played an immensly important role in elections in the past and Peruvians have not forgotten this, see Fujimori.

The Chief of police decided that it is not good for the OAS representatives to go roaming around the streets of Ica without some protection, so I met a very nice plain clothes officer named Franco. Franco rode with us everywhere we went and is gifted at making himself look not present, a talent for a man his size. In a playful mood I tried ditching him at one point, you know just to see if he could find me again, but there he was always a few feet away from me. Franco, thank you where-ever you are.

So after a day of paying visits to assorted influencial leaders, we returned to the hotel/distillery and were greeted by a couple other police officers who would guard us as we slept. It began to occur to me that I should start walking with a swagger or something because of all the protection, but of course that would be silly so I graciously thanked everyone whenever I could. I gave out little Canada pins to some of the volunteers I encountered (I know this is a little Tim Hortons of me); they all loved them, so despite the sense of importance I remained modest and tried to be nice.

Waking up the second day, suffering from heat stroke, dehydration, and the some sort of tropical revenge, we toured around to the headquarters of various political parties and to some polling stations set up mostly inside schools. Our arrival was simultaneous to that of the armed forces, young men with guns. They would serve as guards. They would make sure no one in line waiting to vote got hit by passing cars, an ever present threat (drivers in Peru are a blog entry on there own, traffic in Peru is a white knuckle ballet), and that no one interfered with free and fair voting.

Tune in tomorow for day two of my peruvian election ponderences, I hate to leave you all hanging, but my back is getting sore and I want to be thorough with the details........ till tomorrow morning folks.

Ewald

Last night our group went out to the Mira Flores for a quick bite to eat. After dinner we came across a small market and did the bulk of our souvenir shopping. Jewelry, knickknacks, things made out of gourds and fish scales, and of course, pan flutes. Everyone gets a pan flute.

We all went to bed quite early so that we would be in good shape for our meeting this morning. We were to be there by 9:00 a.m. We had representatives from the the OAS logistics, a presentation from a political expert, a crash course in Peruvian election laws (in Spanish) and Dr. Axworthy welcomed everyone and spoke briefly about the mission. The group is quite large, I would guess around 50-60 people including the co-ordinators. These folks are beginning to show their stress and fatigue as the election date draws nearer. They are a very organized group, bilingual and extremely dynamic. I met a man from the United Nations who is involved with disaster relief; he sets up portable information stations (first response) in areas of conflict or places that have experieced a natural disaster. Fascinating! Derrick spoke with a man who was a member of the American Military attache, he discussed counter terrorism, more specifically which areas of Peru are the the most dangerous. The man looked the part with his Cold-War hair cut and stiff posture.

I also met a woman from Washington DC (formerly from Spain) who works for a Non-Governmental Organization, there are many of these socially conscious folks around here. It was thrilling to have this kind of direct contact with people who do this sort of thing for a living, a little James Bond if James were more into helping instead of blowing stuff up and seducing his colleagues.

After this crash course in election observing, Derrick, Remi and I set off to grab half a roast chicken and some fries. We used this time to go over election day proceedures and examine checklists of items we will be monitoring, utilizing Remi's translation skills. Examples of the procedures we examined included noting if poll stations opened on time, if voters were properly instructed on what to do and if polls closed without incident at 4 p.m. Not too different from in Canada. One difference is that a fingerprint is taken of each person who votes, and their index finger is inked as a sign that they exercised their right to vote. Another interesting procedure is that the voting will only take place between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and that the military will vote for the first time.

Arriving back in our hotel, we got dressed and headed to the residence of the Canadian Ambassador to Peru. This was a surreal event. A Political Science professor from New Brunswick joined us. Dr. Axworthy and partner Denise arranged the evening, along as well was a professor from Victoria and a delightfully charming diplomat/ Harvard Fellow whose name now escapes us all (forgive us it has been a long day). The diplomat hails from, get this, Pine Falls, Manitoba! She was great, funny and sharp as tack, she asked some great questions of the ambassador who with poise and grace of her own, responded eloquently. The ambassador had us in her garden for refreshments and some discussion about the election. Most of us were paralyzed except Remi whose natural journalistic instincts kicked in and Dr.Scott lightened the mood with his Irish wit. I was similarly silenced by my surroundings and distracted by the calls of the birds from trees one would be hard pressed to find in Winnnipeg.

We are presently on our way to an 8 p.m. meeting, I don't know how long it will go but these smaller group meetings are very useful. Remi, Derrick and I have come up with a few questions as a result of our noon study session and this will be a good time to have these addessed.

I hope you are all doing well Winnipeg, is that damned snow still there?

Ewald

So we made it out of the first hotel, El Patio, the focus of this little place is of course their absolutely stunning patio. Fans of flora and fauna would have been impressed by their year-round garden. It is filled with exotic plants and one very strange and beautiful bee. Even Geoff Scott the Geography professer seemed at a loss for comment at this little guy.

Remi conducted a brief negotiation with the cab driver and determined a suitable price, his Spanish is impeccable so naturally he struck up a conversation with the cab driver on the way to our next hotel. This turned out to be a great opportunity to to some interviewing for the documentary he's shooting. The cabbie was very forth coming with his views on the election.

Along the way we got a better look at some of the scenery. Palm trees are the standard, eclipsed only by election signs. The humidity in Peru is oppressive, candy and cigarettes are never in scarce supply as one is approached directly in the cab by street weaving dare devils rapping on your window. Handy I suppose, perhaps something we should consider implementing in Winnipeg, OK maybe not the cigarettes but candy and windshield washer fluid for sure, write your city councillor Winnipeggers! Fruit stands, three-wheeled taxis and traffic cops in traditional Peruvian hats wearing red gloves are also common fare.

Arriving at the Swiss Hotel in Lima was an experience all its own. Peruvians, as I discovered, are very fond of looking smart, our group adjusted accordingly but only after being greeted by some of the most handsome men and women we have ever encountered. Arriving at the Swiss Hotel, we were greeted by representatives of the OAS who seemed professional and very efficient. Dr. Axworthy and his partner Denise were also present. Dr. Axworthy informed us that we will be meeting with officials from the Canadian embassy tomorrow evening (in fact the Ambassador to Peru). At this point I would like to say that it is impossible to hide your cut-off shorts behind a lap top although I tried my best, it was not the blushing that gave it away I suppose. The Swiss Hotel was in the midst of some sort of technology convention, more Puruvians dressed to the hilt, not a single person wearing cut-offs, can someone find me a hole to crawl into.

We had a brief get-to-know-the-ammenties-of-the-room session (thanks for the fruit by the way) and then it was off to the OAS orientation. This was where we realized that we have our work cut out for us. We were told what our duties will be, what we can expect from the voting public, we were given very attractive OAS vests and given contact information of all the experts. This is a point I would like to expand upon. The OAS has enlisted the help of world-class experts in the fields of logistics, political parties, the electoral process, law and a host of others. These men and women will be our contacts when we are out in the field, they will inspect our obsevations and report to the proper officials.

There is a sense among the group that there is some real pressure to do well and we are ready to rise to the challenge. Our meeting was attended by a representative from the Canadian embassy, a chap who hails from Neepawa, Manitoba! This is a small world!

We do not yet know where we will be deployed, we will find out tomorrow morning at out 9 a.m. meeting. I will keep you posted, I have just now been told some of us in our group are headed into town for dinner, I think this is the last of our free time so I will write back very soon.

Until next time,

Ewald

P.S. Excuse the spelling mistakes, I am unused to Macs

As the title of this blog suggests, ours was a rough ride. Most of us we too excited to get any sleep the night before our flight but this did not dampen our spirits. I spilled my coffee at the airport on an American tourist's shoes; he didn't seem to mind. Our flights were made a tiny bit more exciting with the presence of the Manitoba Moose. I was seated next to a defence man whose name I didn't catch, he seemed like a nice young man. They were on their way to Syracuse for a game. Go Moose!

Stepping off the plane in Miami, we were struck with the realityof the heat. Geoff was delighted at the clear blue sky and palm trees, although he commented on an acute lack of signage. We had some trouble finding our departure gate but with Geoff at the helm, there was no panic. Miami was also our first encounter with the Spanish languange. I was addressed in Spanish first and given a blank look when I responded in English, a sign of things to come to be sure.

Remi was chastized for filming aboard the American Airlines flight. We were a little puzzled by this at first but supposed they had a security concern so we stopped the interviews. Geoff, the personality of the century, struck up a conversation with some Americans from Grand Rapids. They commented on Canada's great fishing.
Arriving in Peru, looking very much out of place and having too much time to kill in the airport due to some missing luggage, I discovered what it feels like to be treated like a rock star. Taxi drivers in Peru are passionate group.

The heat and humidity are overwhelming in Lima. We were greated immediatly by an OAS representative and whisked away to our hotel after filing a missing baggage report. Along the way we were inundated by election signage and small Chinese Kiosks, "chifas." An interesting combo. As we travelled through the city, we became very conscious of a wanton disregard for crosswalks and dividing lines.

In the end, we arrived at our hotel safe and sound, around midnight, down only one piece of luggage. We then took in a late dinner; we were all starving. We were serenaded against our will, by a gentleman with a guitar, "Guantanamera" and Ricky Valence's favourite " La Bamba". Incidentally they sell beer by the litre in Lima, or so they tell me. We then promptly passed out in our rooms.

On a final note, this morning's paper "El Comercio" mentioned the presence of international elections observers. The government has implemented certain rules during the election. These include no politcal gatherings within a hundred metres of a polling station, no alcohol may be sold for three days during the election cycle and the carrying of weapons is prohobited during this time. They also made mention of Lloyd Axworthy although we all had a good laugh when we realized that the photo had no resemblance to Dr. Axworthy in way way. I have no idea who this man was but it was most certainly not the chief of the mission, although he was reasonably handsome.

hasta luego Canada,

Ewald Friesen