Last debate between Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Castillo, a week before the poll in Peru

The two presidential candidates of Peru, Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori, will be featured this Sunday on second and last debate in Arequipa, Second city of Peru, in its last attempts to convince the undecided.

The campaign divides the country according to the polls, giving Castillo a slight advantage.

The candidates’ meeting is organized by the National Election Jury, unlike the one held in early May in Chota (Cajamarca). In addition, last week they faced the technical teams of each campaign, but it is the first time since the establishment of the debates that the candidates have not argued in Lima.

The meeting between Castillo and Fujimori will start at 19 (local time, 0 GMT on Monday) and will consist of six thematic blocks: Peru of the Bicentenary; health and pandemic management; economy and promotion of employment; education, science and innovation; fight against corruption and public integrity; and human rights, social policies and attention to vulnerable populations.

Each candidate will have three minutes of presentation then a question and answer session between them. In addition, there will be a “citizen question” block, with two questions for each thematic axis.

Fujimori, in the third ballot he challenges (2011 and 2016), has better staging and better oratory than his rival. However, Castillo, with a clearer message, has filled dozens of places in his last appearances and doesn’t appear to be giving up too much ground in the polls.

Dead heat

This Sunday is the last day allowed to publish the polls by the Peruvian press and the two polls show a difference less than the margin of error.

The mock vote of the consulting firm IPSOS, published by El Comercio, produced a 51.1% for Castillo, against 48.9% for Fujimori, taking into account only valid votes. These are the same figures that we find in the study carried out two weeks ago, and a slight decrease in the advantage for Castillo compared to the simulation carried out a week ago, since a percentage of undecided favored the leader of Fuerza Popular.

For its part, the investigation Institute of Peruvian Studies, published in La República, showed moves last week above the margin of error, favorable to the right-wing candidate. Castillo obtained 40.3% of preferences, a decrease of 4.5 points, while Fujimori climbs to 38.3%, an increase of 3.9 points. The poll also includes 13% of people who would vote blank or no, 6% undecided and 2% of people who do not plan to vote.

These polls are released after learning of the bloody massacre of 16 people perpetrated by narco-terrorists of the so-called militarized Communist Party of Peru, remnants of the Shining Path group, a tragedy that has deepened the polarization in the country, where the left them sectors are accused of sympathizing with insurgent organizations.

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