Keiko Fujimori is President of Peru, Meloni congratulates her

Keiko Fujimori was officially proclaimed President-elect of Peru on Friday by the country’s highest electoral authority, a few days after the conclusion of a very close vote count. This formal declaration ends the uncertainty that accompanied one of the most closely fought elections in Latin America, with the right-wing candidate winning by less than 50,000 votes out of more than 18 million total votes, against her left-wing rival Roberto Sanchez, who did not concede defeat.

Sanchez announced on Wednesday that he had filed an appeal with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The National Electoral Jury (JNE), the highest Peruvian electoral body, had already rejected Sanchez’s request to invalidate votes cast abroad, considering his arguments unfounded. “I proclaim Keiko Sofia Fujimori Higuchi President of the Republic and Luis Fernando Galarreta Velarde First Vice President of the Republic,” said JNE President Roberto Burneo during a ceremony in Lima.

Who is Keiko Fujimori

The daughter of the late former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), the conservative president-elect, thanked Peruvians for their support in a message published in X: “A new chapter opens. We face it with responsibility, humility and a deep sense of duty.” At 51, he assumes the highest office after three consecutive failed attempts and will succeed the interim President Josè Maria Balcazar on 28 July.

His term will last until 2031. In a country plagued by chronic political instability, he becomes the country’s ninth president since 2016. Several conservative leaders congratulated Keiko Fujimori on her victory, including Javier Milei in Argentina, Josè Antonio Kast in Chile and Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella.

“The Trump Administration looks forward to strengthening our partnership with the Fujimori Administration to advance security cooperation and strengthen bilateral investment and trade cooperation in our region,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday. His victory marks the return to power of Fujimorism, more than twenty years after the fall of his father, whose legacy deeply divides Peruvians. Alberto Fujimori managed to repress the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), active in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as stabilize the economy. However, he also took control of the institutions in 1992 to secure re-election and was subsequently convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity.

Meloni congratulates

“My most sincere congratulations to the President-elect of Peru, @KeikoFujimori, for the election result”, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni writes on X. “I am sure that together we will further strengthen the bilateral partnership and work to address common challenges, starting from security and the fight against transnational organized crime, to ensure prosperity and security for our nations.”