Lima. – Peru experiences this Tuesday its ninth change of president in ten years with the inauguration of the new president, Keiko Fujimori, who assumes command of the country for the next five years (2026-2031), after having won the presidential elections very narrowly, by a margin of less than 50,000 votes over leftist Roberto Sánchez in the runoff.
The daughter and political heir of the late former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) is the first woman to be elected head of state of Peru, a milestone with which she seeks to end the political instability that has marked the country in the last decade, in a spiral of presidential removals promoted by Parliament, most of them with the votes of Fujimorism.
Unlike his predecessors, Fujimori has, in principle, sufficient support in Parliament to be able to complete his entire term.
The return of Fujimorism
Her inauguration marks the return of Fujimorism to the government of Peru, almost 26 years after her father resigned by fax from Japan following the uncovering of a major corruption scandal in which his right-hand man, advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, was also involved.
In this quarter-century, the eldest daughter and political heir of the former president took the reins of Fujimorism with the purpose of regaining power and clearing her father’s name, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity, in addition to other charges for various corruption cases.
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That day arrives for Fujimori this Tuesday, after having persevered in her goal of reaching the Presidency despite losing three consecutive elections in the runoff (those of 2011, 2016, and 2021), and having spent nearly a year and a half in pretrial detention between 2018 and 2020, charged with alleged money laundering in the irregular financing of her electoral campaigns.
The King and eight presidents attend
In total, there are ten heads of State and Government who arrived in Peru for the ceremony, among them the King of Spain, Felipe VI; and the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Chile, José Antonio Kast; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; Honduras, Nasry Asfura; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Paraguay, Santiago Peña; and Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi.
Also in attendance are the vice president-elect of Colombia, Juan Manuel Restrepo, and former presidents from various Latin American countries, including several who had a relationship with Alberto Fujimori.
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This is the case of the Chilean Eduardo Frei (1994-2000) and the Ecuadorian Jamil Mahuad (1998-2000), with whom the peace agreements were signed in 1998, putting an end to a long border conflict between both countries that led to a series of wars.
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Likewise, Fujimori invited several former female heads of state such as Panama’s Mireya Moscoso (1999-2004) and Bolivia’s Jeanine Áñez (2019-2020), as well as Panama’s Mario Abdo Benítez (2018-2023) and the president of the People’s Party (PP) of Spain, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who supported her and asked for votes in her favor in the recent election.
First speech and appointment of ministers
The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for noon (17:00 GMT) at the Peruvian Congress, where Fujimori will be presented with the presidential sash and will deliver her first speech as head of state, in which she is expected to announce some of her first measures as president.
For this very Tuesday afternoon, he is scheduled to appoint his Council of Ministers, whose main members were already announced on Monday, with Vice President Luis Galarreta as Prime Minister, economist Elmer Cuba at the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and journalist and former presidential candidate Carlos Espá in Foreign Affairs.
