‘Change is coming’: Peru’s Castillo faces a divided nation after election battle

The leftist Pedro Castillo speaks to supporters from the headquarters of the Free Peru party after the Peruvian electoral authority announced him as the winner of the presidential election on July 19, 2021 in Lima, Peru. REUTERS / Sebastian Castaneda / File Photo

LIMA, July 20 (Reuters) – Peruvian Pedro Castillo has won a long and tense presidential campaign. Now he must heal the wounds of a deeply divided nation, split between supporting his socialist reforms and the fear of turning traditional politics and mining in the Andean nation on its head.

Castillo, a joker candidate from a Marxist party, was named the winner of the runoff election on June 6th on Monday evening after six weeks of struggling for the result on a knife’s edge. He beat right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori by just 44,000 votes.

The former teacher and smallholder son, who is expected to take office on July 28, has received huge support from poor rural Peruvians who have grown tired of the political status quo amid rising poverty and inequality.

His rise, however, has shaken the Peruvian political and business elite as they fear his promises to reformulate the constitution and capture a far greater portion of the mining profits of world-ranking companies. 2 copper producer.

“People spoke, people shouted and Pedro Castillo is finally our president,” said Danny Castillo, an independent supporter of the leftist candidate, after his election victory was confirmed on Monday.

“For the Peruvians, a change is imminent, a constitutional change is coming, no more poverty, Peru is rising,” he said.

The president-elect, who wears a broad-brimmed hat and whose supporters wear flags and inflatable yellow pencil badges of his party, has called for a ceasefire with his defeated rival Fujimori after the divisive election campaign and has suggested that his ministers come from different political backgrounds.

“We’re calling all the experts and technicians, the most respected and dedicated people in the country,” Castillo told reporters on Tuesday, his first comments on his potential cabinet since his win was confirmed.

“We are structuring a work team and I can see that there are people from across the political spectrum who are interested in helping to support this government.”

Fujimori – the daughter of incarcerated ex-President Alberto Fujimori charged with human rights abuses – said she would accept the result but reiterated her claim that Castillo stole votes in order to win and urged her supporters to ” Defense “mobilize democracy.”

“TIME FOR DIALOGUE”

Castillo says he wants to increase spending on health and education by raising funds from tax hikes in the mining sector. His plans have caught on in a country with the highest per capita death rate from COVID-19 and large gaps between rural and urban wealth.

However, its critics, including the famous Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, have claimed that it will lead Peru to authoritarian communist models, citing Venezuela and Cuba.

Castillo himself downplayed the comparisons and brought more moderate economic advisors into his team to calm market and elite fears.

“We will not copy another country’s model,” he said on Monday evening. “We will create real economic development and guarantee legal and economic stability.”

Peru’s markets saw the sol currency weaken 0.30% on Tuesday while the Lima Stock Exchange Index (.SPBLPSPT) rose 0.27%, with some major mining stocks rising.

“This is the time for dialogue,” said the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy (SNMP), which represents industrial leaders, in a statement, one of the industry’s earliest comments since the runoff election.

“Today, more than ever, we need authorities with leadership and vision for the future who are determined to commit to the reforms necessary to revive our troubled economy, overcome the health crisis and ensure the full rule of law,” the statement said.

Peru experienced one of the worst political crises in history in November last year, when three heads of state witnessed a presidency-congressional battle and violent protests that killed two people in a week.

Castillo’s party will have 37 members of the 130 members of the unicameral parliament. Fujimori’s Popular Force Party will be the second most with 24 seats.

Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Aurora Ellis

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