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Castillo Named President-Elect in Peru, Fujimori Concedes

Castillo Named President-Elect in Peru, Fujimori Concedes
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By Staff, Agencies

Rural teacher-turned-politician Pedro Castillo has been named Peru’s president-elect, six weeks after a polarizing vote in which his right-wing rival, Keiko Fujimori, alleged electoral fraud.

The official count – released on Monday and more than a month after the runoff election took place – showed Castillo, whose supporters included Peru’s poor and rural citizens, defeated Fujimori by just 44,000 votes. She now faces trial on charges of corruption.

“On behalf of my family I would like to salute the electoral authorities … and also to salute the political parties that have taken part in this democratic celebration,” Castillo told hundreds of supporters gathered at the headquarters of his Peru Libre [Free Peru] party in Lima.

“Dear compatriots, I bring here an open heart for each and every one of you,” he declared from the balcony after Jorge Luis Salas, head of the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones [JNE] elections jury, announced Castillo’s victory in a brief virtual ceremony.

Hundreds of supporters who had spent weeks outside the JNE headquarters to support Castillo broke out in celebration at the news. He will be sworn into office on July 28.

“Finally, we have a president,” said Rosa Huaman, a 27-year-old Castillo supporter among the crowd, which chanted: “Yes it can!”

Castillo campaigned for office promising to improve the lives of Peruvians contending with a recession worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has been crushed by the coronavirus, with about a third of people now living in poverty and the disease exposing the inadequacies of Peru’s public health system. Peru’s per capita death rate from COVID-19 is the highest in the world.

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