Political Tremors Rock Peru

This story was written by CBS News Producer Alfonso Serrano .

Ollanta Humala, the former army commander who has vowed to legalize coca and nationalize key industries, has emerged as the frontrunner in Peru's tightly contested presidential elections, surely a cause for concern in Washington as the region tilts further left.

With 80 percent of the votes tallied, Humala, 43, has pulled away from the two other presidential candidates, conservative Lourdes Flores and former president Alan Gracía. Though it is unlikely that Humala will garner enough votes to avoid a runoff, his good showing in Sunday's elections has many Peruvians on edge.

"Humala has not won yet, but what is clear is that Peru has lost," said Baruch Ivcher, owner of Peru's Frequencia Latina Channel 2.

In the months leading up to Sunday's vote, Humala declared that he would nationalize key industries while legalizing coca and ending the Andean nation's dependence on the United States. These statements mirror those of Latin America's two other populist leaders, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales of Bolivia. Humala has accused former presidents of sustaining "a dictatorship of the powerful."

Allegations of human rights abuses have shadowed Humala since he led army troops against the Maoist Shinning Path guerillas in the 1980s and 90s. Humala is also an admirer of Juan Velasco, the left-wing military dictator who ruled the Andean nation from 1968 to 1975.

But where others see a brutal military man, many of Peru's poor see a leader with backbone, someone who will stand up to policies that have not improved their fate. Much like Bolivia and Venezuela, Peru's reeling underclass, which lives on less than $2 a day, has suffered from successive presidents championing free market policies. They see Humala as a legitimate alternative to politicians who cater to foreign investors and the free market.

"Humala's going to nationalize our natural resources for the good of the people," Neida Tico, a farm worker, told The Associated Press. "He's going to end poverty."

However, Humala's good showing has already polarized Peruvians. Peru's middle class fears that Humala's election will drive away foreign investors from a country that has enjoyed an annual 5 percent economic growth for five years. Humala has vowed to rewrite the constitution and nationalize "key industries," although he recently said he would not nationalize Peru's gas and oil reserves.

"Foreigners are not going to invest in a country with so much political instability," said Ivcher. "In that sense, Peru has already lost."