Could you imagine Obama flying to France to rev up American ex-pats to get out of their cafés and vote in the 2012 election? Well that’s basically what Peru’s leading presidential candidate is doing tonight, right here in N.J.
Keiko Fujimori- congresswoman and daughter of a former president- will be the keynote speaker at a Paterson charity event- not only to help raise money for poor kids, but also to court votes from the largest émigré community from the South American country.
She’s got a good reason for doing so. Peruvian immigrants, who send billions of dollars in remittances home each year, remain actively involved in Peruvian politics, even while living abroad. One community leader recalled that during the 2006 election, the line of Peruvian Americans voters stretched four blocks, according to a report in NorthJersey.com.
The census says there are 66,000 Peruvians living in N.J., but community leaders believe there could be as many as 200,000- that’s so significant that the Peruvian government built a consulate in Patterson- only 15 miles from its other one in New York City, said the report.
Some interesting facts about Fujimori taken from Business Week:
• As a descendent of Japanese immigants, she is considered a minority
• Her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, is a political prisoner. In 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights violations.
• She got her MBA from Columbia University, where she met her American husband
• She was elected to Congress in 2006 at the age of 19
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