Keiko Fujimori is inaugurated as Peru's president following a narrow election victory
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- Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru's president after winning the June runoff by fewer than 50,000 votes, becoming the country's ninth president in a decade — only three of whom were elected by popular vote.
- Fujimori's Popular Force party and its main ally Popular Renovation will hold half the senate seats once the new legislature is installed, making it harder for opposing legislators to attempt to remove her from office.
- Fujimori pledged to fight crime with an "iron fist" modeled on El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, announced a 15% increase to the national minimum wage, and said the military will temporarily lead security operations in crime-affected areas.
- Opposition lawmakers protested outside parliament holding photos of 50 civilians killed during 2022-2023 anti-government protests, demanding a commission to investigate the deaths and the reversal of laws they say weaken anti-organized crime efforts.
- Fujimori's victory follows conservative wins by Colombia's Abelardo de la Espriella and Chile's José Antonio Kast, part of seven conservative presidential victories in Latin America since Donald Trump's January 2025 inauguration.
- Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who was imprisoned for human rights abuses, pardoned in December 2023, and died in September 2024.
Why it matters: With Popular Force and its ally controlling half the senate, Fujimori has the legislative cover to pursue Bukele-style policies — including a megaprison modeled after El Salvador's Cecot — without easy removal by congress. Her win is the seventh conservative presidential victory in Latin America since Trump took office, confirming that crime and immigration anxieties are now the dominant ballot issue across the region.
