LIMA – Thousands of Peruvians took to the streets on Tuesday to protest uncertainty over the outcome of a presidential election a month ago, while the confirmation of leftist Pedro Castillo is being delayed by election protests from his conservative rival, Keiko Fujimori.
Castillo’s supporters, accompanied by colorful Andean flags, photographs of Faila, the former socialist professor, march towards Congress, demanding that his narrow lead of 44,000 votes be maintained.
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Across the city, Keiko Fujimori’s supporters rallied to support his allegations of voter fraud and attempted to cancel some ballots, a pressure his party maintained, although election observers said the vote went smoothly. I went.
“Peru wants a president and here we have Professor Pedro Castillo elected,” Santos Saavedra, head of the rural defense group known as Rondas Campesinas, said during a march. – Let’s defend this popular will.
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Castillo, 51, the son of farmers, took the lead in the June 6 runoff, shaking Peru’s political and trading system with promises to change the constitution of the copper-rich Andean country and increase taxes on mining.
Election officials are checking ballots after challenges from Fujimori, who Alleged fraud without strong evidence. With the inauguration of the new president on 28 July, the process must be completed before the results can be confirmed.
– The game is not over and there is still no winner. We are waiting for this result,” Fujimori said in another part of the capital, Lima, surrounded by his followers.
The interim government rejected Keiko’s request for an international audit of the vote.
