Hundreds of people marched this Saturday in downtown Lima against the right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, with just over a week left before the runoff in which she will face the leftist Roberto Sánchez.
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The mobilization was called by human rights groups and social collectives under the slogan “Keiko no va, Fujimori nunca más” (“Keiko doesn’t go, Fujimori never again”), rejecting the leader of Fuerza Popular and the political legacy of her father, the late Alberto Fujimori.
The march took place peacefully and included attendees who carried banners and chanted slogans against Fujimori. The route began at San Martín square, a usual protest spot in Peru, and proceeded through the historic center of Lima, passing near the front of Congress.
Among the demonstrators were family members of victims of human rights violations committed during Alberto Fujimori’s government, between 1990 and 2000, in the context of the internal war against Shining Path.
Also present were family members of victims of protests against the government of former president Dina Boluarte and young people who question Fujimorism as part of a political class linked to corruption.
“Keiko represents injustice and fear. Keiko Fujimori must not reach the presidency because, for us, she is a danger,” said to AFP Irma Cayó, wife of one of the victims of the protests in Puno.
The protest was the first mobilization driven by anti-Fujimorist collectives during the current campaign for the presidential runoff.
The runoff is scheduled for June 7 and pits Fujimori against Roberto Sánchez, candidate of Juntos por el Perú and former Minister of Commerce during the government of Pedro Castillo.
Fujimori won the first round with 17.1% of the votes, while Sánchez advanced to the runoff with 12%, in an election marked by high fragmentation and a record of 35 presidential candidates.
This is the fourth time that Keiko Fujimori, 51, competes for the presidency of Peru. Meanwhile, Sánchez, 57, faces his first presidential candidacy.
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