Insults rather than issues dominated Peru's presidential election campaign this week as candidates grappled with allegations of unacknowledged children, cocaine consumption and money-laundering, with little energy left to discuss pressing social and economic issues.
The Organisation of American States (OAS), which intervened in last year's fraud-ridden elections, was called in this time to negotiate a "civility pact" between candidates. Mr Alejandro Toledo, candidate for the "Peru Possible" alliance, is favourite to come out ahead after the first round of voting next Sunday, despite a series of scandals which shook his hopes of being elected president on the first count. This, under Peruvian law, requires 50 per cent plus one vote.
Mr Toledo was questioned on the campaign trail over a child paternity suit, filed by the mother of a 13-year-old girl. He refused to volunteer for a DNA test despite a court ruling last month, insisting the test be postponed until after the elections.
Peru's investigative weekly Caretas also claimed that a video showing Mr Toledo consuming cocaine was not the fruit of a dirty tricks campaign by state security forces, as claimed, but the product of a wild night out on the town.
Mr Toledo has put the various allegations down to a smear campaign to prevent a cholo - a mixed race Peruvian of Andean Indian descent - from becoming president.
This weekend's elections were called as a result of the resignation of former president Alberto Fujimori, forced out of office last November over fraud and corruption charges. He is now living in exile in Japan.
The sudden departure of Mr Fujimori and his feared espionage chief, Mr Vladimiro Montesinos, opened up a Pandora's box of state abuses, from bribery to assassination, previously kept quiet by a brutal, authoritarian regime which shut down the press and imprisoned or killed dissidents.
The surprise candidate in this election has been Ms Lourdes Flores, a 41-year-old lawyer who is leading the right-wing "Unidad Nacional" alliance and presenting an image of moderation in a country which is racked by racial and economic difference.
That kind image faltered last month when Ms Flores's father, Cesar, called Toledo a "llama from Harvard". Days later, in the northern jungle of Iquitos, Ms Flores's campaign rally was cancelled when she was pelted with stones, reminding candidates that the race card in Peru is a dangerous instrument to play with.
Mr Toledo responded with the class card, calling Ms Flores "a candidate of the rich". A former shoeshine boy turned World Bank economist, Mr Toledo earned his political stripes in last year's pro-democracy battle against ousted President Fujimori, braving tear gas and death threats.
Meanwhile, Ms Flores was shown to have defended a convicted money-launderer in parliament, where she has been a deputy for the past 10 years. In third place, but gaining rapidly, is ex-president (1985-90) Alan Garcia who fled the country in 1992, accused of receiving US$1 million in bribes, while leaving behind hyperinflation measuring 7,650 per cent.
Mr Garcia, who returned to Peru after corruption charges were dropped in January, has focused on his experience in government, and claims to have learned from past errors. Polls indicate that in a second round runoff, Mr Toledo would beat Mr Garcia but might lose to Ms Flores, adding fresh impetus to the final days of campaigning.
