Peruvian mayoral candidate Hitler Alba Sanchez (YouTube screenshot)
A mayoral hopeful bearing the name of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler is seeking to lead a small town in the Peruvian Andes, but his candidacy has been opposed by a challenger with the name of Soviet leader Lenin.
Ahead of the October 7 election, posters trumpeting Hitler Alba Sanchez reading “Hitler returns” and “Hitler with the people” have gone up in Yungar, but the candidate insists he rejects the Nazi leader’s ideology.
Alba said his father did not know who Adolf Hitler was when he was named. He also said despite considering changing his name after learning about the Nazi dictator, he eventually decided against it.
Vladimir Lenin (photo credit: de:Moses Solomonowitsch Nappelbaum, Wikimedia Commons)
His mayoral hopes briefly came under threat when his opponent Lennin Vladimir Rodriguez Valverde sought to block him from registering as a candidate, but the motion was dismissed by electoral authorities.
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Reuters noted that many people in Latin America are named after infamous historical figures due to their unique names, including Osama Vinladen, who last year played for Peru’s national youth soccer team.
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