Keiko Fujimori sworn in as Peru's President after narrow election victory

Keiko Fujimori is sworn in as Peru's first female president on July 28, 2026, following a narrow election victory of fewer than 50,000 votes. As the country's ninth leader in a decade, she promises to tackle a severe security crisis with an 'iron fist' and temporary military deployments. Her inauguration, attended by regional conservative leaders, cements a rightward shift in South America. However, she faces deep polarization, protests from victims of her father's 1990s regime, and demands to investigate past protest deaths.

Keiko Fujimori presidential inauguration

• ▪A group of leftist lawmakers walked out of the congressional chamber in protest during Keiko Fujimori's inauguration ceremony
• ▪Keiko Fujimori's inauguration ceremony was attended by Latin American leaders including Argentina's Javier Milei, Chile's Jose Antonio Kast, Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa, and Uruguay's Yamandu Orsi
• ▪Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru's president on July 28, 2026, after winning the June 2026 presidential runoff by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes

Regional conservative electoral shift

• ▪Keiko Fujimori's election victory, alongside those of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia and José Antonio Kast in Chile, underscores a regional shift in South America toward conservative leadership
• ▪Conservatives have won seven major presidential elections in Latin America in the years leading up to July 2026, propelled by public concerns over crime, immigration, and slow economic growth

Peru political instability history

• ▪Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force party and its main ally, Popular Renovation, hold half the seats in Peru's newly installed Senate, making it more difficult for opposing legislators to remove her
• ▪Keiko Fujimori is Peru's ninth president in a decade, a period during which only three presidents were elected by popular vote while the rest took office after predecessors resigned or were removed

Crime reduction policy proposals

• ▪Keiko Fujimori pledged to fight crime with an 'iron fist,' proposing a mega-prison modeled on El Salvador's Cecot facility and reforms to allow judges to conceal their identities during criminal trials
• ▪Keiko Fujimori announced that Peru's military will temporarily lead security operations in areas where crime, drug trafficking, and illegal mining are rife

Opposition protests over deaths

• ▪Relatives of victims of state violence held a vigil in Lima on July 27, 2026, demanding justice for abuses committed during the 1990s administration of Keiko Fujimori's father, Alberto Fujimori
• ▪Opposition leaders and relatives of victims protested Keiko Fujimori's inauguration, demanding a commission to investigate the deaths of 50 civilians during anti-government protests in late 2022 and early 2023

Geographic electoral polarization

• ▪Left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez challenged the election results over alleged counting irregularities at Peruvian consulates abroad, but electoral authorities dismissed the complaints
• ▪Keiko Fujimori was widely backed by voters in Peru's capital and along the Pacific coast, while voters in the highlands overwhelmingly supported left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez