David Waisman
Encyclopedia

Early life

Waisman is Jewish; he and his father left Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 in 1935 and came to Lima, where he made a meager living selling cloth and blankets door to door. Waisman joined his father on horseback as he peddled merchandise in small villages. The family returned to Lima when David was in his teens.

Waisman began his career with a small business that sold machinery for making women's clothes, and continued with it for decades.

His wife converted to Judaism, and both of them belong to the Conservative synagogue in Lima.

In 1998 he was elected head of the small business committee in the National Industrial Union. He came out publicly against President Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...

's economic policy.http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Wj41j8xIwnMJ:www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml%3FitemNo%3D62748%26contrassID%3D2%26subContrassID%3D15%26sbSubContrassID%3D0%26listSrc%3DY%26itemNo%3D62748+%22David+waisman%22+peru&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=46

Political career

He is a member of Perú Posible
Peru Possible
Possible Peru is a Peruvian political party. It was founded in 1994 by Alejandro Toledo with the original name of País Posible ....

 since 1994, and was elected as a Congressman in 2000, 2001, and 2006, currently representing Lima
Lima Region
Lima Region, also known as Lima Provincias, is one of twenty-five regions of Peru. Located in the central coast of the country, its regional seat is Huacho....

.

In 2000-01 Waisman led a Peruvian congressional investigation commission into embezzlement, drug trafficking, money laundering, arms smuggling and corruption. He uncovered a broad network of corruption involving politicians, judges, businessmen and journalists. http://english.people.com.cn/english/200102/11/eng20010211_62061.html

On July 28, 2001, Waisman became Second Vice President of Peru in Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García...

's government, and served as such from 2001 to 2006. When Raúl Diez Canseco
Raúl Diez Canseco
Raúl Diez Canseco Terry is a Peruvian businessman and politician. He played a role in bringing international companies such as Kentucky Fried Chicken to Peru. He also founded several educational institutions....

 resigned as First Vice President in 2004 after a scandal with his girlfriend, Waisman became the only Vice President of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 until 2006.

During Toledo's presidency, he was also Minister of Defense.

In 2002, Waisman rejected a challenge to a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

 with pistols on a Lima beach with independent congressman, Eittel Ramos, to settle a dispute over alleged insults. Ramos said the vice president had insulted him after Ramos criticised first lady Eliane Karp for saying "two-bit parties" were trying to undermine her husband. The vice president "called my attitude cowardly because I said what I said about a woman," Ramos said. He said the invitation to Mr Waisman to a duel was a matter of honour for him. Waisman said he was a civilised and peaceful man, and his moral beliefs prevented him from trying to end another's life. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2283040.stm

In 2006, he was initially appointed as a presidential candidate but independent Jeanette Emmanuel later replaced him as Perú Posible
Peru Possible
Possible Peru is a Peruvian political party. It was founded in 1994 by Alejandro Toledo with the original name of País Posible ....

's candidate. With her resignation, Rafael Belaúnde was appointed as the new candidate, but he also resigned.

He is considering running for Vice President once more in the upcoming early 2011 elections alongside Luis Castañeda Lossio, after having switched from Peru Posibe due to irreconcilable differences with Toledo, to Solidaridad Nacional.

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