During our time in Peru local elections were taking place – this meant that the whole country was covered in paint and billboards trying to persuade people who to vote for. Apparently most people don’t really know any of the candidates, and usually you get voted in because of your local connections.
To make it easier for people to remember who to vote for, the various candidates and parties use symbols – as they are easier to remember than names. Some parties are not very imaginative and just use letters, whereas some have quite complicated designs for their symbols.
In the cities they put up billboards, but in the countryside they actually paint the houses with the slogans and symbols. It was very enjoyable looking for new symbols, and it was an activity that could be undertaken in the city and also while riding buses (yes, it doesn’t take a lot to entertain us does it..? 🙂
So OF COURSE we took lots of pictures of the various symbols – and here is our gallery! 🙂 ENJOY! 🙂
Green tree with an A on it.Lightbulb with an I on it.House with FA on it.This garage belongs to the ‘A’ party. Check out the ‘A’ man! 🙂A very nice ‘orange’ symbolHenry and Alvaro of the ‘C’ party. It says ‘united we are stronger’Cowboy hat on a volcano – one of my favourites! 🙂MT on a rainbow. The rainbow symbol is an indigenous symbol of the Andes.Pachakuteq symbol. Pachakuteq was an Inca emperor.The ‘A’ party again – but actually this is a different ‘A’ party in another province… there are only so many letters of the alphabet available you know… in this case it stands for the ‘alliance for progress’Pachakuteq again – although the colours are different, I think this is the same party as in the previous example. According to thie poster, Pachakuteq is apparently going to come back! (yes, he is currently dead.)‘We are Peru’ in a heart.Coca leaf. Because Lucre (the province) deserves a change. Opportunity for all.Llama symbol. Our favourite! 🙂 The sign is written in Quechua – so I’ll let you translate it yourself…. 🙂The ‘yellow house with red roof’ guy stuck his stickers on the pavement. Is there no end to this madness!?The ‘We are Peru’ party again – this time with a proper poster.The ‘APU’ use a football symbol. Unfortunately I think they need a new designer, as this looks a bit like a ‘wanted’ poster to me…Flower symbol.The Pachakuteq people take it to a new level – with a car and a statue of Pachakuteq to drive around town.Chicken! Another one of our favourites 🙂Pickaxe in hand – a symbol for action!FOUR chickens on a poster – what’s not to like?The train is coming – Advance the country! These guys had a lot of posters.Mr. G – ‘for more safety and fighting against corruption’Mr. L – ‘We are going to transform Nasca.’ Unfortunately nobody told him that ‘L’ stands for LOSER! 🙂Mr K – ‘Experience in administration.’ Not the catchiest slogan…. but his name is ROCKY – which must count for something.The ‘train’ people have got a truck! I guess putting a train on a train would be a bit weird (and there aren’t many trains around here…)Now the ‘train’ people are having a big party – with a band onstage. These guys definitely have too much money for their election campaign.The ‘sunshine’ party – apparently in Miraflores there is electronic voting available. Yes, it’s posh in Miraflores.PPC over an outline of Peru.This symbol I think is meant to be a ‘neighbour’. It says ‘for a Miraflores where neighbours are protagonists – yes, we can do it!’The Family.Lots of cowboy hats and a nice pink house!
