Peru heads to runoff as Sanchez, Fujimori battle for presidency

Peru will enter Sunday’s presidential runoff with more than politics at stake. The contest between Roberto Sanchez and Keiko Fujimori is also a test of whether the country can steady a shaky economy, protect a copper-dependent export machine and signal reliability to investors watching from Lima, Washington and Beijing.

The June 7 vote follows a fragmented first round on April 12 that crowded a record 36 presidential candidates onto the ballot and left no one close to the more than 50% needed to win outright. Fujimori led with 17.19% and Sanchez followed with 12.03%, sending both into the decisive round after Peru’s National Jury of Elections formally confirmed them on May 17. The next president will take office on July 28, inheriting a country that has cycled through eight presidents in a decade.

The first round exposed how fragile the system has become. Ballot-delivery failures hit dozens of polling stations in Lima, and election officials extended voting into a second day in some areas after a private contractor failed to deliver ballots on time. More than 52,000 citizens were kept from voting on schedule. European Union observers said they found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the drawn-out count still fueled fraud allegations and deepened public mistrust. Roberto Burneo, who heads the National Jury of Elections, said confidence in the electoral system had fallen and warned that runoff results could take “about a month” if the race is close and recounts are requested.

Fujimori, in her fourth presidential run, is pitching herself as the candidate of market confidence. She has promised to attract U.S. investment and strengthen ties with Washington, a message that fits Peru’s traditional Western alignments and could reassure business interests uneasy about policy swings. Her family name still carries the legacy of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, making her candidacy both familiar and polarizing.

Sanchez is offering a different bargain. The former foreign trade minister says Peru should remain open to international partners, but on more “just” terms. He has pushed for stronger environmental protections, better redistribution of mining wealth, a review of mining contracts, a higher minimum wage and even a rewrite of the constitution. That agenda could reshape the terms of Peru’s mineral economy, which matters far beyond its borders because the country is one of the world’s leading copper producers and a major exporter of critical minerals.

The runoff is being watched closely not just because of Peru’s domestic instability, but because its mining sector is a crucial supplier to the United States and China. A disputed or prolonged result could rattle markets and complicate hemispheric politics at a moment when crime, insecurity and public impatience have dominated the campaign’s final stretch.