World Notes Peru

For Alan Garcia Perez, 35, presidential candidate of the Popular American Revolutionary Alliance, victory seemed just out of reach. The youthful, center-left candidate gained an unofficial 48% of the votes cast in Peru's April 14 election, a better than 2-to-1 lead over Lima's Marxist mayor, Alfonso Barrantes Lingan. But Garcia needed an outright majority to win, and the two rivals faced the prospect of a runoff election.

Last week, in a surprise move, Barrantes retired from the race, possibly fearing an overwhelming defeat for the far left in a second round of balloting. His action opens the way for Garcia to be sworn in as successor to President Fernando Belaunde Terry on July 28 in Peru's first transfer of power from one elected government to another in 40 years. Barrantes' decision to pull out came 36 hours after guerrillas, believed to be from the Maoist movement known as Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), machine-gunned a car carrying the country's chief election officer, Domingo Garcia Rada, 72. Garcia Rada is in critical condition. President Belaunde denounced the "insane men who are bloodying our nation," declaring, "we will not let them interfere with the election process."