LIMA, April 8 (Reuters) – Peruvians will go to the polls on April 12 to elect a new president and members of Congress, following years of political upheaval, impeachments and corruption scandals that have seen eight presidents since 2018.
A record number of candidates will compete in the first round. If no candidate clears the 50% threshold needed to win outright, the two most-voted candidates would advance to a second round, scheduled for June 7. Opinion polls indicate a runoff is likely, with at least five of the 35 presidential hopefuls in with a chance of claiming one of the two spots.
Here’s a summary of the top contenders:
KEIKO FUJIMORI
Conservative Fujimori, 50, is making her fourth bid for the presidency, having reached the runoff in all three of her previous campaigns — a record that underscores both her resilience and her polarizing grip on Peruvian politics.
A former congresswoman, she leads the conservative People’s Force party and is the eldest daughter of late former President Alberto Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000 before being jailed for human rights abuses.
Fujimori’s party plays a pivotal role in Congress, anchoring a right-wing bloc and giving her an advantage in a fragmented field. Opinion polls consistently place her among the leading contenders.
She had previously faced accusations of illegal campaign financing, but Peru’s constitutional court dismissed the case last year on procedural grounds.
Educated in the United States, Fujimori has positioned herself as pro-U.S., pitching foreign investment under clearer institutional rules and casting herself as a more reliable partner for Washington than rivals she describes as closer to Beijing.
Her campaign leans heavily on a law-and-order message, echoing the militarized security policies associated with her father’s presidency in the 1990s.
RAFAEL LOPEZ ALIAGA, ‘PORKY’
Lopez Aliaga, 65, an ultraconservative businessman from the Popular Renewal party and a former mayor of Lima, is one of the most recognizable figures in the race, though recent opinion polls show his support slipping. A former Citibank corporate banker, he built his fortune in hotels and railways and has spent years cultivating a hardline political brand.
Nicknamed “Porky” after the cartoon character Porky Pig, Lopez Aliaga is a vocal opponent of abortion, same-sex marriage and what he calls “gender ideology.” A former member of the Catholic group Opus Dei, he is unmarried and has previously said he has practiced celibacy since the age of 19.
Lopez Aliaga has business ties to Peru’s mining sector and his railway investments have benefited from minerals like copper transported from the Las Bambas copper mine, operated by a Chinese firm.
CARLOS ALVAREZ
Alvarez, 62, is a well-known figure in Peru, a popular comedian who has railed against the political class and is seeking to tap voter frustration with the establishment. Running for the center-right Country for All party on a populist, anti‑crime platform, he has likened himself to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, pointing to his own transition from entertainment to politics. Surveys show a recent uptick in voter support.
His platform includes support for capital punishment for certain crimes and greater use of the armed forces to confront rising insecurity. On foreign policy, Alvarez has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed focus on Latin America, while acknowledging the economic importance of Chinese investment in Peru.
Critics have questioned the depth of his policy agenda and strength of his technical team should he make it into government.
ALFONSO LOPEZ CHAU
Lopez Chau, 75, is an economist and academic from the left-of-center Now Nation party. A former central bank board member, he has allied with a Marxist running mate who has called for reforms to Peru’s market-oriented economic model.
Lopez Chau has proposed creating a sovereign wealth fund to finance infrastructure projects, though details remain limited, and has backed calls for a new constitution. He is being investigated by Peru’s prosecutor’s office over alleged embezzlement during his tenure as president of the National University of Engineering from 2021 to 2025. He denies the allegations.
JORGE NIETO
A former defense and culture minister under ex‑president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Nieto, 74, is a low‑polling centrist who has pitched himself as a unifying figure with institutional experience.
He resigned in protest when Kuczynski pardoned Alberto Fujimori.
Founder of the centrist Party of Good Government, Nieto has promoted civil‑rights reforms including same‑sex marriage and relaxing strict rules around abortion access. He has said little about foreign policy.
CESAR ACUNA
Acuna, 71, leads the right-wing Alliance for Progress party after a career in education, building university campuses. The two-times presidential candidate has faced multiple allegations of corruption throughout his political career, which includes terms as a congressman, governor of the gold-mining department of La Libertad, and mayor of its capital, Trujillo. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of a crime.
He has pledged to focus on education reform and cuts to government spending by reducing the number of government ministries from 18 to 10.
ROBERTO SANCHEZ
A congressman running for the left‑leaning Together for Peru party, Sanchez has been drawing attention as a potential wild‑card in the fractured race. He is calling for a new constitution to establish a “plurinational” state that would give a greater voice to Indigenous communities, tapping long‑standing grievances in regions that have felt excluded from national decision‑making.
Sanchez’s candidacy is closely linked to his tenure as a minister under former leftist president Pedro Castillo, who was jailed on rebellion and conspiracy charges after his failed attempt to dissolve Congress in December 2022. From prison, Castillo has publicly endorsed Sanchez as his preferred successor.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Lucinda Elliott. Editing by Cassandra Garrison and Rosalba O’Brien)
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