From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Humala Pulls ahead of Fujimori in Runoff Race

Left-leaning candidate Ollanta Humala holds the lead over conservative Keiko Fujimori in the first major poll since the April 20 first round of the Peruvian presidential election. The Ipsos Apoyo poll gave Humala 42 percent against Fujimori’s 36 percent, while another 20 percent expressed no preference or rejected both candidates. In an El País opinion piece, Peruvian Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa—famous for his criticism of the Latin American left—argued that to vote for Fujimori would amount to justifying the authoritarianism of her father. 

Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru to Ink Pacific Pact

The heads of state of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru meet in Lima this week to sign a pact aimed at increasing integration, as well as the ability to project themselves into the Asia-Pacific market by creating greater economies of scale. The signing of the agreement will take place Thursday.

An AS/COA Online analysis looks at the new Pacific integration pact.

LatAm Structures New Regional Organization

Foreign ministers of the governments making up the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States kicked off a summit in Caracas on April 26 to discuss how to structure the new 33-country political organization. The group’s goal is to foster hemispheric diplomacy and economic development. The United States and Canada have been excluded from membership. At the summit, participants proposed a “democratic clause” to avoid coups within member states. The proposal has yet to be ratified. 

Support Surges for Correa’s Referendum

With two weeks to go before a major referendum, a poll by Cedatos predicts Rafael Correa will win a resounding victory. The referendum’s 10 proposals—which include laws reforming the judiciary, restrict media companies’ business activities, and ban bull-fighting—would pass by an average of 61.7 percent on May 7, according to the survey.

Read an AS/COA Online News Analysis about Ecuador’s referendum.