With only two days left to receive her credentials from the National Election Jury (JNE) as president of the Republic, Keiko Fujimori continues with a series of meetings at the Fuerza Popular premises, in San Isidro. This Monday he received the journalist and lawyer Carlos Espá (Yes Creo) and the former regional governor of La Libertad César Acuña (APP). Both were adversaries of the former first lady in the last presidential elections.
Espá, in recent days, has been called to assume leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the Fujimori government.
Even in the management transfer team of the incoming incumbent (ETTE), accredited by Fuerza Popular in the chancellery, is Carla Mares Ruiz, former candidate for the Senate for Sí Creo and dean of the Faculty of Law of the Universidad del Pacífico between 2023 and 2025. She obtained 47,491 preferential votes in the election for Congress. But he obtained a seat because his group did not pass the 5% barrier.
At the Torre Tagle ETTE there is also Giacomo Sanguinetti Ravettino, who was president of the Student Center of the Universidad del Pacífico, when Mares was dean.
Luis Galarreta, elected first vice president of the Republic and general secretary of Fuerza Popular, also participated in the meeting between Fujimori Higuchi and Espá.
According to sources from El Comercio, the former head of Congress is one of the main cards considered by the president-elect for head of the Ministerial Cabinet.
(Photo: Jesús Salcedo/ El Comercio)
Upon his departure, the former presidential candidate of Sí Creo said that all Peruvians “have to be willing to do our bit” where “it belongs to us,” when asked about whether Fujimorism has offered him to be the next Minister of Foreign Affairs. He added that in Peru there is freedom of opinion, information and speculation.
“I am not going to make a statement or opinion based on speculation (…) You have to be patient,” he said.
In statements to the press, Espá supported the first announcements made by Fujimori Higuchi, in the sense that he will promote the construction of maximum security mega prisons.
“I agree with the announcements that the president-elect has made, especially in maximum security prisons. The leaders of criminal organizations have to feel the weight of the law and they are not feeling it,” he said.
The journalist and lawyer indicated that 80% of the prison population “suffers” from extortion by the leaders of criminal organizations. “Extortion begins in prisons and then moves to the rest of the population. These announcements that the president-elect has made seem good to me, in the sense that the full weight of the law is applied,” he added.
Espá also stressed that he finds it “very positive” that Fujimori Higuchi has announced his intention to add Peru to the “Shield of the Americas”, a policy proposed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to confront transnational organized crime, especially drug trafficking cartels.
“It is very important that countries realize that they cannot individually fight or combat criminal organizations that are transnational. Faced with the threat of drug trafficking and money laundering, there must be a coordinated response from Latin America and the United States,” he said.
In an interview with the Colombian magazine “Semana,” Fujimori Higuchi said that, in his government plan, he has proposed the construction of at least four large prisons “and one for the most seasoned and most dangerous criminals.” “We will call for international tenders and here the important thing is to do it quickly. We know that in El Salvador President Bukele built these prisons in eight months; here we have to do it a little faster,” he mentioned.
He also maintained that the support of the United States government “will be allowed” in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime “to the extent that the Constitution and the law of our country allow it.”
“But I do want to point out that, for example, Peru is today part of NATO as an observer nation, and this is thanks to an initiative by President Trump. Likewise, we are interested in being part of the Shield of the Americas. We believe that there are also many opportunities to recover peace and fight organized crime,” he remarked.
Earlier, President-elect Fujimori met with Acuña and Luis Valdez, general secretary of APP. The former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Progress said he went to greet Fujimori for his victory in the second round.
“I have come to say hello, it is democratic, the electoral competition is over, I have come to wish the best (…) We have talked and, in my experience, it should be as close as possible to the mayors and regional governors, they know the reality of the population,” he said.
In statements to the press, Acuña Peralta said that he hopes that the election of Fujimori as head of state will be “a turning point,” so that the country “will no longer have many presidents in five years.”
“That is why I call on all the political forces that will be (in the new) Congress to dialogue and to think about the country and not about personal interests. We have lost 10 years and since 2016 we have had many presidents,” he added.
(Photo: Jesús Saucedo/ El Comercio)
The leader of Alliance for Progress stated that Peru needs five years of “governance and stability.”
Acuña also indicated that the priority for the north of the country is citizen security and prevention actions in the face of the El Niño phenomenon.
When asked if APP would join the Ministerial Cabinet, he responded no.
“I believe that it is time for the government to put in the best people to help them govern, the management of a government depends on the ministers,” he concluded.
Alliance for Progress did not pass the electoral fence and will not have representation in the new Congress, a situation that has not occurred since the 2006 elections. This despite the fact that the group invested at least S/10 million in propaganda. Acuña has been questioned for his closeness to former president Dina Boluarte.
Read also: César, what remains of APP, a chronicle by Fernando Vivas about Acuña’s defeat in the elections
In the afternoon, Fujimori Higuchi received Manuel Merino de Lama, who was President of the Republic for five days in November 2020.
Upon leaving the Fuerza Popular premises, the acciopopulist said that they did not address the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which concluded that the detention of former president Pedro Castillo Terrones, after his announced coup d’état, was “arbitrary” and lacked a legal basis.
“We cannot be dependent on international organizations,” he said in statements to the press.
(Photo: Antonio Melgarejo/ El Comercio)
Merino de Lama also stated that he does not believe that the head of state, José María Balcázar, “being on the verge of leaving,” is going to make the decision to grant a pardon or presidential grace to Castillo.
Fujimori Higuchi also met with the provincial mayor of Tacna, Pascual Güisa Bravo, and with the national leaders of the soup kitchens.
73% believe that the priority of the Fuerza Popular government should be to combat insecurity. This after the overflow of extortion and crimes against transporters, warehousemen and others in recent years.
According to the latest Datum survey for El Comercio, the other challenges of the new Executive are to generate employment and reactivate the economy (26%), improve health services (24%), improve the quality of education (20%), reduce corruption in public institutions (17%) and reduce poverty and inequalities (9%), among others.
