Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez will face each other in a June 7 runoff election for Peru's presidency after leading a crowded field of 35 candidates in the April 12 vote, according to the final count released Friday. The contest will determine the leadership of a nation whose mining-driven economy has posted more than 3% growth in 2024 and 2025 despite chronic political instability that has produced nine presidents in 10 years.
Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a former president, led with 17.18% of the vote, while Sánchez, a nationalist congressman and former minister, finished second with 12.03%. Both candidates campaigned on promises to confront crime, which was the top priority for Peruvians in a race shaped by surging violence, corruption and voter frustration over politicians widely seen as dishonest and unprepared.
Economic Resilience Amid Political Chaos
Peru's economy has remained resilient despite a revolving door of presidents and three presidents since October alone. Aided by its status as the world's second largest copper producer, the country has maintained economic growth even as political institutions have struggled with continuity. The winner of the runoff will be sworn in on July 28 for a five-year term.
The election was marked by logistical problems that left thousands of people in Peru and abroad unable to vote on Sunday, prompting authorities to allow more than 52,000 residents of Lima to vote on Monday. The extension, announced after vote counting had begun Sunday evening, also covered Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey.
Competing Visions on Crime and Mining
Sánchez called for a "grand democratic coalition" to defeat a criminal underworld that he said has aligned with the "political mafia" of Congress, including Fujimori's party. He said his traditional peasant hat serves as "the expression of all hats and of the diversity" of Peru. He promised to repeal laws he said make it harder to prosecute criminals and to strengthen police intelligence capabilities to combat extortion, which has increased fivefold in five years.
Sánchez has said he would like to renegotiate contracts with mining companies operating in the country, arguing that the state should collect more taxes. He has also said rural communities should own a share of the mines operating in their territory and that he opposes open-pit operations. He does not have a congressional majority.
Fujimori, now in her fourth bid for the presidency, spoke Friday from the coastal La Libertad region, where she highlighted her father's legacy, saying his administration defeated the Shining Path rebel group and halted the hyperinflation of the early 1990s. She pledged to bring that same resolve to modern security issues and promised to crush crime so Peruvians can "live in peace." She has promised to crack down on crime with an iron fist, but she has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. Those laws, backed by her party in recent years, eliminated preliminary detention in certain cases and raised the threshold for seizing criminal assets.
The Party Advantage
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Fujimori is "perhaps Peru's only remaining career politician and the only one with a real political party," in the sense that she has a nationwide organization and continuity over time. He said this could allow her to tackle the surge in crime, but he expects her to do so selectively.
Freeman also said, "She and that party have in the past sponsored legislation against organized crime that ironically created many of the tools that prosecutors used to investigate them in the 2010s," referring to the corruption investigations Fujimori faced. "Now, they have since led the charge to destroy a lot of those mechanisms in the legislation."
Why This Matters:
Peru's runoff presents a choice between two approaches to governance in a country where economic fundamentals remain strong despite institutional dysfunction. Fujimori offers organizational capacity and political continuity through an established party structure, assets that could prove valuable in addressing crime and maintaining investor confidence. However, her party's role in weakening prosecutorial tools raises questions about selective enforcement. Sánchez's proposals to renegotiate mining contracts and redistribute resource ownership introduce uncertainty for the extractive sector that has anchored Peru's economic growth. His lack of a congressional majority could limit his ability to implement either his security reforms or his resource nationalism agenda. The outcome will signal whether Peru prioritizes institutional stability and market predictability or pursues a more interventionist approach to both crime and natural resources.