Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, seeking re-election for a third term in tomorrow's presidential elections, faces a surprise challenge from a political outsider who did not even register in opinion polls three month ago.
Mr Alejandro Toledo (54), a former shoeshine boy who attended Harvard University, becoming a respected academic and international consultant, leads the Peru Posible slate, with a campaign slogan consisting of just one letter - T for trabajo, or work, the most urgent issue for Peru's majority poor.
Mr Toledo's main strengths appear to be his indigenous features, appealing to the mixed-blood cholo majority, and his energetic wife, described as "a Belgian-born beauty who speaks seven languages", including Quechua, the local language. She frequently is compared to Hillary Clinton.
President Fujimori won the 1990 elections in similar circumstances, coming from nowhere to force a second-round runoff against the writer, Mario Vargas Llosa, a member of Peru's pale-skinned elite. Mr Fujimori spoke halting Spanish and campaigned on top of a tractor, promising endless investment through his contacts in Japan.
Recent polls suggest that Mr Fujimori will secure 45 per cent of votes, requiring a second round of voting, in which all opposition candidates will back Mr Toledo.
"I see a Peru which is very divided, polarised and bleeding," Mr Toledo said this week. "A fuse is now burning which no one can put out."
President Fujimori has used all possible means to prevent his rivals from reaching the Peruvian public, closing off access to state and private television. In the face of mounting international criticism, Mr Fujimori implemented last-minute changes to the electoral process, considered insufficient by the Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS) and other groups.
The Peruvian Prime Minister, Mr Alberto Bustamante, negotiated 10 minutes of TV time for the eight presidential candidates and banned all advertising of government-backed social programmes.
Such moves "are definitely not enough to revert the accumulated absence of open debate," said Mr Eduardo Stein, former foreign minister of Guatemala, leading the OAS delegation. Mr Stein concluded that the poll was still viable, "as Peruvians clearly want to vote".
International observer missions are in place around the country. Rumour spread that government-run aid agencies would be given marked ballots in favour of Fujimori. Beneficiaries of state aid would be required to deposit the marked ballots on voting day and return the blank ballot to government officials, thus proving they voted the desired way.
The loyalty of Peru's Armed Forces remains uncertain, as junior officers are reputedly dissatisfied with the enormous power accumulated by Mr Vladimir Montesinos, Mr Fujimori's right-hand man, whose case for alleged drug-trafficking was quietly dropped.
Mr Toledo announced that a group of army colonels approached him last week, pledging to resist Fujimori's alleged plan to use army troops to commit fraud in the first round. If Fujimori wins in suspicious circumstances, a combination of international pressure, citizen mobilisation and army insubordination could force the unpopular leader out of office.
President Fujimori has ruled the country for 10 years, combining pragmatism with authoritarianism, shutting down congress and rewriting the constitution, ending a brutal guerrilla insurgency and winning substantial foreign investment.
President Fujimori also imprisoned thousands of innocent citizens, tortured political opponents and failed to address deep-seated issues of social injustice.
s residence in 1997, offers a bridge to the hostile international community. Mr Vazquez, veteran of Fujimori's populist Vamos Vecino, Let's go, neighbour, network, works the grass-roots, dispensing favours for votes.
In the past week the worried President has criss-crossed the country in army helicopters, promising insurance schemes for mothers and babies. Described in a recent biography as solitary, power-crazy and distrustful of everyone around him, he appears determined to cling to power, while the Peruvian people anxiously await change.