PISCO, Peru, Aug 12 (Reuters) - When an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit two coastal cities and destroyed 37,000 homes in Peru, President Alan Garcia promised a speedy reconstruction effort that would burnish the country's new image of dynamism.
One year later, the cities of Chincha and Pisco still look devastated, Garcia's popularity has plummeted, and the only president who has won hearts and minds here is Venezuela's socialist leader, Hugo Chavez.
Chavez, who has used his country's oil wealth to spread his influence throughout Latin America, has given away 100 new three-bedroom houses with green lawns in Chincha, and named the community after his hero, Simon Bolivar, the 19th century independence leader.
"Thanks to God and to Hugo Chavez, I have a house," said Emma Euribe, 50. She and her four children moved into their plastic-walled home two months ago, marveling that it sits in front of a new park and came fully furnished.
"Look what Hugo Chavez, who isn't our president, has done for us. The corruption here needs to stop because we're human beings in need," she said.
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