Weekly Report - 02 May 2013 (WR-13-17)

The opposition and Peru’s largest business federation Confiep are running scared of President Ollanta Humala’s popularity – and what it might mean. This seems to be the only real explanation for the extreme reaction to his suggestion that the government is mooting the acquisition of shares in an oil refinery held by the Spanish energy company Repsol for the state-owned oil firm Petroperú. This announcement came fast on the heels of Humala’s attendance of the investiture of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, which they are presenting as proof positive that he is preparing to adopt Chavismo wholesale, including state intervention in the economy and using his popularity to pave the way for his even more popular wife, Nadine Heredia, to succeed him in 2016.