
Left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez called a protest in Lima for Friday against the result of Peru's presidential runoff, which makes right-wing Keiko Fujimori the virtual winner, as the electoral justice was due to decide on the challenges filed by his party. With 99.51% of the tally sheets counted, Fujimori leads Sánchez by some 44,101 votes, though no winner has yet been proclaimed.

Ten days after the June 7 presidential runoff, Peru still has no proclaimed winner, but the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is heading toward victory. With 99.1% of the vote counted, she leads the left-wing Roberto Sánchez by some 36,889 votes and is projected as the virtual winner, while the left pushes mobilizations and nullity appeals. The official proclamation remains pending on 0.84% of tally sheets under review, with a deadline of mid-July.

Peru's National Jury of Elections (JNE) reiterated on Monday that the maximum deadline to officially proclaim the new president-elect is mid-July, while vote recounts proceed in three overseas cities over observations to the tally sheets. The body's spokeswoman, Grecia Rentería, said at a press conference that the proclamation would come about two weeks before the swearing-in, set for July 28, with the start of the 2026-2031 term of government.

Conservative Keiko Fujimori reclaimed first place on Wednesday night in Peru's presidential runoff, in a count being decided vote by vote that took a decisive turn with the arrival of ballots from Peruvians abroad. With 98.2% of the tally sheets processed by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Fujimori reached 50.002% against 49.999% for leftist Roberto Sánchez, a difference of fewer than a thousand votes. If the trend holds, the Fuerza Popular leader could become the country's first woman elected president at the polls.

The European Union (EU) election observation mission in Peru highlighted the order and transparency of Sunday's presidential runoff, though it criticized the slowness in proclaiming the results and warned of episodes of racism and discrimination during the campaign. The head of the mission, Italian MEP Annalisa Corrado, asked Peruvians to wait patiently, at a time when, with about 96% of the count completed, conservative Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sánchez remain in a technical tie.

Leftist Roberto Sánchez moved ahead in the count of Peru's presidential runoff, in an election being decided vote by vote. With about 95% of the tally sheets processed by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Sánchez had around 50.1% of the vote, against 49.9% for conservative Keiko Fujimori, a lead of some 41,000 ballots. The result, however, is not final: the votes of Peruvians abroad, historically favorable to the right, have yet to be counted.

Peru's presidential runoff ended without a clear winner after an extremely close vote. A quick count by the pollster Ipsos, carried out with the NGO Transparencia on a representative sample of tally sheets, gave a slight edge to leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez, with 50.3% of the vote, against 49.7% for conservative Keiko Fujimori. The gap, within the margin of error, amounts to a technical tie that prolongs the uncertainty in a country that has had nine presidents in a decade.

Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Peru in November, returning to the country where he was bishop of Chiclayo, carried out much of his pastoral life and obtained citizenship. Interim President José María Balcázar said on Sunday that the trip is programmed from November 10, in brief remarks after voting in the presidential runoff.

Peru's presidential candidates, conservative Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sánchez, closed their campaigns in Lima on Thursday before thousands of supporters, three days before a runoff that polls suggest will be very close. Fujimori appealed for the “unity and reconciliation” of Peruvians, while Sánchez promised to end the “chaos” and centered his speech on anti-fujimorismo.

The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru on Thursday signed in Santiago a joint cooperation agreement against transnational organized crime, in a meeting convened by the Chilean government of President José Antonio Kast and attended by five foreign ministers, four security ministers, and one interior minister. The so-called Santiago Regional Compact articulates five areas of cooperation and will be presented before the 56th General Assembly of the Organization of American States to extend the initiative to the rest of the continent.