From my experience in Peru I woukd say race and class are inextricably intertwined and it's fairly hard to discount race as a motivating factor in people's political opinions.
Peruvians are divided into whites, mezclas and indios. My wifes family definitely look like they are from the mountains but maintain they are almost Spanish. Appearance strongly defines social class. I was taken to a beach where everyone looked European but was shocked to find that all were Peruvians of Spanish decent. There is definitively an entirely segregated clade from the conquistadors.
So race may not be important to the US pupeteers but it sure is for people living in South America.