Peru is set to elect its 10th president in a decade

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. The Americas Peru is set to elect its 10th president in a decade June 6, 20266:00 AM ET By Simeon Tegel A supporters hols a banner of presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori during her closing campaign rally in Lima, Peru, Thursday. Rodrigo Abd/AP hide caption toggle caption Rodrigo Abd/AP LIMA, Peru — Peruvians will elect their new president Sunday with polls suggesting a polarized but tight race between perennial hard-right candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sánchez. Fujimori had been polling a few points ahead, with around a quarter of voters still undecided, but reports Sánchez could have narrowed the gap in the last week.

Keiko, as she's known in Peru, is running on the legacy of her father, the late, disgraced strongman President Alberto Fujimori. That legacy includes crushing both hyperinflation and the Maoist insurgents of the Shining Path, who bathed Peru in blood in the 1980s and 1990s. It also includes running death squads — for which he was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison — shuttering congress, bribing journalists and epic corruption.

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Sponsor Message World Peru election could add to string of right-wing victories in Latin America "If she wins, there will be performative moderation. There will be this discourse about dialogue and democracy, but the reality will be that she will have her hands on the levers of power and will use them in an authoritarian way," predicts political scientist Paula Távara. "If there are protests, expect a repressive response.

" Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori waves during a campaign rally in Huacho, north of Lima, Peru, on June 2. Ernesto Benavides/ via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Ernesto Benavides/ via Getty Images The runoff vote will be the fourth in a row for Keiko Fujimori, 51, after narrowly losing in 2011, 2016 and 2021. Many Peruvians accuse her of being a bad loser, who for months refused to acknowledge her loss in 2016 and then made unfounded accusations of electoral fraud in 2021.

They also blame her for using her Popular Force party, the largest in the last two congressional terms, to block corruption and organized crime investigations and to destabilize multiple governments, contributing to Peru's calamitous run of nine presidents in the last decade. Now she is offering to reprise her father's mano dura or iron fist approach to the violent crime wave sweeping the Andean nation, including an extortion epidemic, and reimpose "order" — even though many of her critics say she is the primary culprit for the chaos in Peru's politics and streets. Yet if she is poised to take the presidency, it is in large part because Sánchez, 57, is also a deeply disliked candidate.

Peru's left-wing presidential candidate, Roberto Sánchez, speaks during a campaign rally at the Plaza Tupac Amaru in Cusco, Peru, on June 2.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.