Congresswoman Fujimori, the daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori and candidate for Fuerza Popular, gathered 2.8 million votes, or 17.19 per cent of the total. She reached a presidential run-off for the fourth time. Mr Sanchez, of Juntospor el Peru party and a former foreign trade minister under former president Pedro Castillo got 2.015 million votes, or 12.03 per cent.

Both beat 33 other candidates with promises to put an end to surging crime, the top priority for Peruvians whose country’s mining-driven economy has proved resilient to political instability. More than 70 per cent of voters did not choose either Ms Fujimori or Mr Sanchez in the first round, meaning both candidates will have to form coalitions if they hope to win in the run-off. Fujimori belongs to the traditional far right while Sanchez was a part of the government of Pedro Castello who was considered a left wing in Latin American politics. Castello is in jail following a number of corruption charges.

In Peru, inequality is average in global terms, but poverty is increasing. Almost 30% are classed as poor, 5.7% in extreme poverty. Regional differences are marked despite framework for redistributing tax revenues from mining.. However the literacy rate is high at 94.5 per cent. Peru’s civic space status has worsened from obstructed to repressed, according to CIVICUS. Grave human rights violations have been committed in the country with the perpetrators getting no punishment.

Peru currently faces political breakdown, characterized by institutional fragility, corruption and violence. A recent survey of voter intention shows that most would rather leave their ballot blank than vote for any of the parties or candidates registered for the 2026 general election, with none receiving more than 11% approval.

Peru with its 34 million population has GNI per capita $7,090 in 2023 (Chile $15,800, UK $47,700) Peru primarily exports raw materials, with China, the US and Canada its biggest trading partners. Mining, agriculture and tourism are the largest industries. More than 70% of the labour force is informal. Subsistence farming remains vital to the rural poor. The main exports include copper, gold, agri products, zinc, oil and gas.

While most South American revolutionary movements were shaped by Marxist-Leninist thinking, Peru’s Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) developed its own, ultra-violent, Maoism. For almost two decades Peru was engulfed in an internal war that claimed 69,000 lives, most poor and Indigenous. Government forces and Shining Path were equally responsible.

Peru saw rapid economic growth nonetheless, helped by soaring commodity prices between 2001-11. The official poverty rate halved from 42 per cent in 2007 to 20 per cent in 2019. But the Covid-19 pandemic laid bare the country’s inequalities and the weakness of its state institutions. Peru had more Covid deaths per capita than anywhere in the world; worst hit were people living in the Amazon.

As vice-president, Dina Boluarte was appointed to the top job by Congress in 2022 after the sitting left-wing president Pedro Castillo, facing impeachment over alleged corruption, made a botched attempt to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. He was ousted and is now in jail, charged with ‘rebellion’ and ‘grave abuse of authority’.

Congress enjoys a public approval rate of just two per cent. Boluarte’s is around four per cent. But thanks to alliances made with rightwing parties, including that of presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, Peruvians are sick of the political parties. There is a gloom among the citizens knowing that Fujimori, if elected on June 7 will be able to make little change to improve the economic situation. (IPA Service)