Lima, Peru – Two people were wounded by gunshots and another three injured by blows in a clash Thursday as the motorcade of presidential candidate Alan Garcia headed to the airport in the highland city of Cuzco, police said.
The confusing clash involving gunfire and fighting in the former capital of the ancient Inca empire raised the specter of political violence ahead of Peru’s June 4 presidential election.
Leaders of Garcia’s center-left Aprista party accused supporters Ollanta Humala, a nationalist candidate in the runoff vote, of attacking the motorcade.
But Gonzalo Garcia Nunez, Humala’s vice presidential candidate, replied that Garcia’s private guards fired on Humala’s supporters and demanded that police investigate the attack.
Garcia, Peru’s president from 1985-1990, was not hurt and continued on to the airport to take a flight back to Lima.
Cuzco, located high in the Andes 350 miles southeast of Lima, is a stronghold of support for Humala, a retired army officer.
Police confirmed the injuries but would not provide details of the shooting incident. They said no one was arrested.
Congressman Jorge del Castillo, a leader of Garcia’s Aprista party who was in the caravan, said a mob of Humala supporters surged out of a side street and began attacking the entourage with rocks hurled by slings. He said he saw one man with a pistol “who shot point-blank at the vehicles.” Cesar Pajares, a spokesman for Humala’s Union for Peru party, said three Humala supporters were wounded by gunshots and two bystanders were hurt.
According to the latest polls, Garcia has a lead over Humala of at least 10 percentage points ahead of the runoff.
Garcia, 57, paints himself as a moderate leftist and vows to maintain free-market policies.
Humala, 43, has tapped into a powerful vein of discontent among Peru’s poor majority and promises heavy state intervention in Peru’s economy.
