Two candidates in Peru named “Hitler” and “Lennin” will face off in a mayoral election for control of a small village in the Andes mountains.
Hitler Alba, who is running as a candidate for the centrist Somos Peru party, has pledged to bring good governance and transparency in the town of Yungar, where 3,000 residents will vote in the country’s upcoming local elections. He previously served as mayor between 2011 to 2014.
Alba insists he has no interest in Adolf Hitler or Nazi ideology, but chose not to change his name out of respect for his parents. As such, posters proclaiming “Hitler returns” and “Hitler with the people” have recently popped up around the town.
“I’ve always done good and the people know me,” Abla told local broadcaster Radio Programas de Perú. “I am the good Hitler.”
Alba faces opposition from an individual named Lennin Vladimir Rodriguez Valverde, who recently tried to block Alba’s candidacy claiming he had already served a full term. The election will take place on October 7.
As well as the sharing a similar name to Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Lennin’s name also resembles that of Peruvian leader Lenín Moreno, but with a different spelling.
According to experts, many Peruvian and other Latin American parents choose internationally recognized names because they sound exotic, sometimes ignoring negative connotations that may come with it.
It is not the first time that a Peruvian name has attracted attention abroad. Last year, a young Peruvian footballer named Osama Vinladen Jiménez López was called up to the country’s international team.
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