On July 28, Keiko Fujimori, at 51 years old, became the first woman elected by popular vote to govern Peru. One of the most striking announcements she made during her speech to Congress was to involve the Armed Forces to confront organized crime. They will join the police, and she particularly emphasized the fight against extortion crime. “We will use all the tools provided by the Constitution. During states of emergency, the Armed Forces will temporarily assume internal control in close coordination with the national police until the authority of the State is fully restored and these territories are returned to the citizens,” she promised.
Just over two weeks after taking office, the daughter of the late president Alberto Fujimori has acknowledged that the task will not be easy. On Monday, the president stated that her government needs time to face the wave of crime that plagues the country and asked the public for patience, arguing that it is not possible to achieve results in 15 days of administration.
“We know, above all, that what we have to recover is order. And we have to live again in peace and without fear,” she declared during an official event for Warehouse Workers’ Day.
She added that her administration, which has only been in office for two weeks since being sworn in, is focused on strengthening the National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces, as well as improving coordination among the institutions responsible for fighting crime.
“Today what you will see is an absolutely firm government, which is first motivating and raising the morale of the institutions on the front line, our National Police and our Armed Forces,” she affirmed.
“We cannot deliver results in 15 days, please. I ask for patience, but above all I ask you to trust this government, because this government will restore order and tranquility,” she continued, without offering deadlines or concrete goals to reduce violence.
But Fujimori’s arrival at the Casa de Pizarro has not been without street unrest. The rise in fuel prices sparked, just 13 days after the start of her government, a front of protests by transporters and organizations from four regions against the increase in diesel, fare hikes, and the impact on the cost of living.
Since Monday, transporters and social organizations from Ucayali, Loreto, Arequipa, and Tacna have staged strikes, mobilizations, and blockades against the increase in diesel and gasoline, due to the impact on their operating costs and transportation fares.
According to the Lima newspaper La República, the main hotspots are in Ucayali and Iquitos. In Pucallpa, the third day of an indefinite strike affecting highways, urban roads, river transport, and fuel supply was observed. In Loreto, there were blockades and mobilizations, while in Arequipa transport resumed, but unions warn that the strike has not been lifted.
The conflict also reached Bagua, where Awajún communities from Wawas, in Imaza, blocked the IV Road Axis to demand the reactivation of stalled educational works and the construction of a pedestrian bridge destroyed more than a year ago.
In Tacna, the Transport Federation called a 48-hour strike on August 10 and 11, with the stoppage of urban and interurban transport units. The unions questioned the price of diesel, which reached 25.35 soles per gallon (about 7.5 dollars), and warned that the increase directly affects their operating costs. The measure impacted passenger transport and led the Regional Education Directorate to suspend in-person classes during both days in schools.
In Loreto, the impact is not only concentrated on land transport but also in a region whose connectivity heavily depends on river routes. The Ombudsman reported the blockade of the Nauta-Iquitos road. Additionally, passenger transport unions, mototaxi drivers, and river operators had announced additional protest measures against the fuel price increase, which affects the transport of people.
Faced with the advance of protests, Fujimori’s government is evaluating measures to reduce the impact of the fuel price increase, including the reactivation of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund and a temporary subsidy for the Amazon, reports the newspaper Perú21.
Specifically, the government announced this Friday a subsidy of between 15% and 20% on diesel purchases for transporters nationwide. The measure will be targeted and temporary, lasting three months.
“The price increase is a result of the conflict in the Middle East and obstacles to global fuel distribution. As a government, we are obliged to respond when these external causes affect the economy and the quality of life of our compatriots. That is why it has been decided to act, and we will do so responsibly and orderly,” Keiko Fujimori said at a press conference.
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In May, a temporary subsidy of 4 soles (1.18 dollars) per gallon of B5 and B20 diesel was approved for passenger and freight transporters, precisely to cushion the impact of the fuel price increase on fares and freight. But the measure did not prevent discontent from escalating to the streets, and the strikes show the limit of that response. Transporters demand a solution to the price they pay to operate, not just a temporary compensation, points out the newspaper La República.
Political scientist Andy Philipps told that media outlet that any subsidy is a short-term response that does not guarantee a sustained reduction in fuel prices. “This subsidy solves nothing fundamentally,” he states. In his view, the government maintains “a more extractivist, short-term approach” and could again miss the opportunity to reduce dependence on expensive fuels.
But fuel prices are not the only headache for the new Peruvian government. According to the National Death Information System (Sinadef), 83 people were murdered in the country between July 28 and August 10. The period coincides with the first weeks of Keiko Fujimori’s administration at the helm of the Executive.
Between August 11 and 13 alone, La República reported at least seven different crimes. There was a police officer killed on a highway in La Libertad, a man chased by gunfire through the streets of Rímac, and a corpse found on a trail in Chiclayo, among other cases. “Violence gives no respite even from one day to the next,” the newspaper highlights.
“Keiko Fujimori acknowledged the seriousness of the problem at a public event this week. She asked for patience and assured that her government is working on a strategy, without specifying what it consists of. That response comes as official figures show that August accumulates, in just 10 days, a higher percentage of deaths by firearm than previous full months,” the media reiterated.
Sinadef counted 53 homicides between August 1 and 10. Of that total, 46 were committed with firearms. It is the highest proportion recorded in any similar period of 2026 so far. The figure for the full period, from July 28 to August 10, rises to 83 homicides, the number corresponding to the first days of government.
In July, the month before the new government took office, 166 homicides were recorded, of which 111 were with firearms: 66.9% of the total. The first 10 days of August already exceed that percentage by almost 20 points.
Amid this scenario, PNP General Víctor Revoredo, head of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (Dirincri), questioned the performance of other justice system bodies in the face of crime, asking about the effectiveness of preliminary arrests. He also criticized the release of alleged criminals captured by the National Police.
“There is a very respectful, constitutional entity that says there are attacks. And where are the preliminary arrests we asked for? Where are the releases? We have the commitment. We have firmness and we will assume responsibility if we are not up to the circumstances,” he said at a press conference.
Likewise, Víctor Revoredo defended the Police’s work against attacks on transport companies and highlighted that no new attacks were recorded for 19 days.
The local press has also echoed the security situation. In an opinion column published in the newspaper El Comercio, journalist Diana Seminario wrote that “Keiko Fujimori must be aware that, without results in citizen security, at least in the medium term, there is no patience that counts.”
In favor of the president, Seminario highlights that 16 days have passed since President Keiko Fujimori took office and the approval of her performance in a first Datum Internacional measurement for El Comercio places her at 60%, an average figure of the evaluation of previous presidents elected at the polls. The only one in this group who did not have a promising start was Pedro Castillo in 2021.
“But be careful because, just as acceptance generates hope, expectations among the population also grow and, if they do not see results in the very short term, this first favorable image may fade,” warns the columnist.
“Unfortunately, there have been years of misgovernment and neglect that have led the population to demand immediate results. The president, surely encouraged by the figures approving her first days in office, asks for trust and, according to the polls, she has it, but she must also be aware that, without results in citizen security, at least in the medium term, there is no patience that counts,” she reiterated.
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