These are the 6 candidates who are fighting to go to the second round in Peru

An economist who has advised dictators, a Quechua-speaking psychologist, a former footballer, an heiress accused of money laundering, an ultra-conservative businessman with millionaire debts and a radical trade unionist are the candidates fighting to go to the ballot. in the presidential elections of Peru.

The minimum margin of advantage in the polls held by left-center Yonhy Lescano of Popular Action has evaporated. This goes to the small group formed by Hernando de Soto, Verónika Mendoza, George Forsyth, Keiko Fujimori, Rafael López Aliaga and Pedro Castillo.

HERNANDO DE SOTO

After being among the laggards for months, economist Hernando De Soto, 79, jumped into the home stretch of the campaign and moved closer to second place in the polls.

Paradoxically, his rise was accentuated after confessing to having been secretly vaccinated against covid-19 during two whirlwind trips he made to the United States and having recognized the controversial “showman” Andrés Hurtado “Chibolín” as his advisor. honorary.

Although this is his first time running for president, De Soto has a long history in politics.

He headed the Central Reserve Bank, advised the first governments of Alan García (1985-1990) and Alberto Fujimori (1990-1995), supported Keiko Fujimori’s candidacy in 2011 and was a member of his party’s technical team, Fuerza Popular, for the 2016 elections.

Too He advised the dictators Muammar Ghadafi of Libya (1969-2011) and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (1981-2011).

In an effort to exploit his image as a successful economist, De Soto presents himself as the promise to revive the country’s economy, with ideas he has supported for decades, including the need to incorporate the informal sector into the law.

His theses postulate a minimum participation of the State in the economy.

Holder of a degree in social psychology and economics and a master’s degree in international law and economics, the candidate is running for Avanza País, a party he joined in September 2020 and which has never had political responsibilities.

VERÓNIKA MENDOZA

Originally from the southern region of Cusco, leftist Verónika Mendoza is running for the presidency for the second time and does so with a slight upward trend in the latest polls, which place her between third and fifth place.

With its faithful banner of “rebuilding the country” with a modification of the Constitution and a second agrarian reform, The former congressman is a candidate for Ensemble pour le Pérou, a movement that brings together various left-wing organizations.

In its political march, the “Vero”, as its supporters call it, he advocates for the legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage and promises to nationalize the country’s natural gas, if it comes to power.

Daughter of Peruvian Marcelino Mendoza and French Gabrielle Marie Frisch D’Adhemar, the candidate, of dual nationality and speaking Quechua, graduated in psychology in France, where she also studied a master’s degree in social sciences.

In 2011, she was a member of the Nationalist Party of former President Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), but then broke with the ruling movement due to political differences and became a member of the Broad Front, with which she was elected presidential candidate for the 2016 elections when he was third with 19% of the vote.

GEORGE FORSYTH

George Forsyth is running for the presidency for the first time, and although the polls have placed him as a favorite for months, his support is waning over time.

The son of diplomat Harold Forsyth and Chilean “miss” Verónica Sommer was born 38 years ago in Venezuela and He worked in professional football as a goalkeeper for Alianza Lima, one of the most popular teams in the country.

After wearing the blue and white jersey, Forsyth jumped into the political arena in 2011.

He has passed through left, center and right groups and in 2018 he was elected mayor of his populated neighborhood in Lima, La Victoria, by the Somos Peru party, where he gained media notoriety for leading a campaign. crusade to fight crime and reorganize informal commerce.

In 2020, he joined the National Restoration, an evangelical and conservative movement with very little political presence, which he restored as a National Victory, with a profile of more “liberal” conservatism.

In his private life, he had a relationship with actress Vanessa Terkes, which ended in scandal with domestic violence complaints against the former footballer for psychologically assaulting her during their eight-month marriage.

KEIKO FUJIMORI

What heir to the project launched by his father, former president Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori is running for the presidency for the third time and, according to the latest polls, he does so, leading the anti-vote (65%).

However, the mistakes of other right-wing candidates placed her as a viable option to participate in the poll with her. promise to confront crime and corruption with a “strong hand”.

Keiko and his popular Fuerza party have already been defeated in 2011 by Ollanta Humala and in 2016 by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, this time by only 41,000 votes.

This step would have been the culmination of a political career which began at the age of 19 and assumed the role of First Lady after her parents’ divorce, and which continued with more energy by taking Fujimori’s leadership after his father’s imprisonment in 2007 for crimes against humanity.

The candidate, married to the American Mark Vito, has been indicted since 2018 for corruption crimes in connection with the Lava Jato case, an investigation that led her to spend more than a year in preventive detention.

RAFAEL LÓPEZ ALIAGA

Far-right businessman Rafael López Aliaga took pride of place at the start of the campaign and even doubled his intention to vote.

But “Uncle Porky,” as he’s dubbed for his plump, cheerful pink appearance, has slumped in recent polls, falling behind third to sixth.

A disappointing performance in the electoral debate; an inexplicable alliance with ethnocacerismo, an indigenous extreme left movement; The tax problems and the revelation had as a partner an investment fund of the American magnate George Soros, vilified by the extreme right from which he drinks and is inspired, seem to have taken their toll.

López, member of Opus Dei and public defender of celibacy, who has been practicing “since adolescence”, he is applying for the popular renovation party, which wants to be a “Christian political alternative”.

Rejects with hostility the legalization of abortion and marriage equality, He recognizes that he has flogged himself for forty years and that he is “in love with the Virgin Mary”.

Before entering politics, this millionaire businessman devoted himself to university education and finance.

He created hotel chains and took over Peru’s largest railway companies, which allows him to boast of being a successful businessman.

His fortune, however, is backed by a monopoly deal with the state he insults, while his company accumulates millionaire losses and owes more than 30 million soles ($ 8.3 million) to the Peruvian Treasury. .

PEDRO CASTILLO

Silently but regularly, this 51-year-old teacher and leader of a radical faction of a teachers’ union she burst into the home stretch of the campaign with such force that she threatens to destroy all pollsters’ calculations at the last minute.

Dressed in the traditional straw hat of his native Cajamarca, he went from low on Peruvian preferences to fighting one-on-one for a place on the ballot.

Their positions are radical left in economic policy, calls for a modification of the Constitution and asks, among other things, to eliminate the Constitutional Court and replace it with a body whose judges are “elected by the people”.

Yes He said that if he was president he would shut down Congress if he did not accept his proposals.

He is very conservative on social issues and enemy of the gender approach in education and the recognition of the rights of sexual minorities.

By Carla Samon Ros (EFE)

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