With different styles but radical speeches, three of the favorites in Peru’s presidential elections closed their campaigns this Thursday with the promise of defeating the explosion of crime, often linked in their speeches to irregular immigration.
Between music, slogans and flags, the candidates burned their last cartridges to try to convince voters tired of the insecurity and political crisis left behind by eight presidents in the last decade.
The main concern “is crime (…) and also poverty,” Renzo Huamaní, a vendor at a street food stand in the south of Lima, told AFP.
In a record election of 35 candidates, none is close to obtaining half the votes needed to avoid a runoff in June.
The polls give as a favorite Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former autocratic president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who closed his campaign in a popular district south of the capital.
Carlos Álvarez, a popular comedian, and the ultra-conservative Rafael López Aliaga, former mayor of Lima who compares himself to a cartoon pig, also burned their last cartridges.
The two are vying for an eventual second place in the runoff along with businessman Ricardo Belmont and leftist Roberto Sánchez.
“Fujimori returns”
“Dead people appear every day (…). We want to give a woman the opportunity to lead in this chaos we are experiencing,” said Silvia Arenas, a 37-year-old artisan and weaver, supporter of Keiko Fujimori.
At a sports complex, the candidate danced to tropical music and gave a speech with frequent allusions to her father, convicted of human rights violations and corruption.
“I am absolutely aware that where we are going there is the memory, the memory and the gratitude of the best president of Peru: Alberto Fujimori“said the candidate who is competing for the fourth time.
Hundreds of faithful waved orange flags of their party and chanted “Chino, Chino!” like a mantra, in reference to the nickname of their late father, of Japanese origins.
Keiko Fujimori promised to control the borders against irregular migration and force prisoners to “work for their food.”
“Let’s recover the peace“he added.
“On the hunt”
Near the center of Lima, supporters of López Aliaga, 65 years old and known as “Porky,” gathered.
From the Christian right, he promises to expel irregular migrants and lock up dangerous criminals in isolated prisons in the jungle.
“Any Venezuelan who is not legally up to date in Peru leaves me, goes to Venezuela. Let’s go huntingone by one,” launched the leader of Renovación Popular, regarding what he assured will be his first measure.
On the stage, the entertainers promised prizes to their supporters while salsa music played in the background from thunderous speakers.
“He will bring the changes that Peru needs,” said Alex Huamán, 49, a supporter of López Aliaga.
In a gritty, impoverished neighborhood in the east of the capital, comedian Carlos Álvarez presented himself as an “outsider.”
“We want a country with better educationsafely, without criminals who take our lives,” said the 62-year-old candidate, who unexpectedly entered the campaign with a radical right-wing speech and proposals such as the death penalty.
Known for parodying on television the protagonists of the political scandals of recent decades, he did not miss the opportunity to imitate some of his opponents.
“Peru is tired of those who entrench themselves in power and do nothing for the people,” says Mario Guerra, a 55-year-old lawyer.
For his part, Belmont, 80, closed his campaign in Lima on Tuesday at an event in which he called on his followers to “eliminate the miserable politicians” at the polls.
The leftist Roberto Sánchez, who promises to pardon the imprisoned former president Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), culminated this Thursday with a caravan north of the capital.
“This year’s electoral field is fragmented: no candidate has a convincing lead and a significant portion of the electorate remains undecided,” Nicolás Saldías, a specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.
