In the final result, former Wall Street financier, Pablo Kuczynski, narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori, daughter of incarcerated ex-President Alberto Fujimori, by 50.1 per cent to 49.9 per cent.  

Spanish MEP, Marina Albiol, commented: “We celebrate that Keiko Fujimori has not won and taken the Peruvian people back to one of the darkest periods of their history, since she represents the legacy of her father's torture and incarceration of political opponents.”

“However, we also express our concerns about Kuczynski's neoliberal agenda, which is very far from the redistribution of wealth needed in one of Latin America's most unequal countries.

“As a former Minister of Economy, he has already proved to be a disciple of the IMF and it's aggressive agenda which already brought loss of labour rights through the hands of multinational corporations and widespread poverty.”

“We express our solidarity and internationalist support to the peoples and communities of Peru and the social and political organisations fighting against the impoverishment produced by lack of equality and public services, as well as uncontrolled exploitation of their natural resources by multinational corporations.”

Spanish MEP, Tania González Peñas, also commented: “This result shows the defeat of the Fujimoris, their neoliberal political proposal, and their human rights violations. It also expresses the people's claim for progressive goverments in their country. It´s a day to congratulate the Peruvian people.”

Notably, the left-wing presidential candidate from the Frente Amplio party, Veronika Mendoza, who came third in the first round of the election has put her support behind Kuczynski.

González Peñas added that with such a close result, Kuczynski has to be aware that he did not obtain a clear majority to implement his programme, so “the new government would have to rule looking for agreements with other political forces.”

“Peru has shown that it is a country with a high level of public memory. The people of Peru have expressed their rejection of Fujimorism and their will to open the debate about the human rights violations during the dictatorship,” González Peñas concluded.

 

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