Novelist Mario Vargas Llosa says Fujimori’s opponent Pedro Castillo would undermine democracy

The Nobel prize-winning Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa has called on his compatriots to support Keiko Fujimori’s bid to become president, despite once running against her now jailed and disgraced father, Alberto, and spending years savaging the dynasty for its corrosive effects on Peru and its politics.

Vargas Llosa said the rightwing Fujimori – who faces Pedro Castillo, a far-left but socially conservative union leader and teacher in June’s presidential runoff – was “the lesser of two evils”. Castillo won 19.1% of the vote in last week’s first round, while Fujimori took 13.4%.

Pedro Castillo will face Keiko Fujimori, the far-right heiress to one of the country’s enduring and controversial political dynasties

Peru faces a polarizing presidential runoff vote, in which a hard-left schoolteacher – who caught a wave of popular discontent over the coronavirus and a cratering economy – will face the far-right heiress to one of the country’s most enduring and controversial political dynasties.

Pedro Castillo, a veteran teachers’ union leader, took pollsters and voters by surprise in Sunday’s first-round vote winning 18.47%, with 84% of the official vote counted. In second place, Keiko Fujimori – daughter of the jailed former leader Alberto Fujimori – polled 13.12%, closely followed by two more far-right candidates.

After a tumultuous week, Peru’s burgeoning grassroots movement says it will not accept a return to business as usual

After a tumultuous week in which Peru saw three presidents – and a brutal police backlash against massive pro-democracy protests – a nascent youth movement has emerged with a clear message to the country’s politicians.

Under the rallying cry “They messed with the wrong generation”, the non-partisan group is warning Peru’s elected representatives that they will not tolerate a return to the business-as-usual world of dirty tricks and backroom deals.

Appointment expected to ease tensions on the streets after protests over ousting of Martín Vizcarra

Peru’s congress has elected a new interim president after nearly 24 hours without a head of state as the country reels from an intense week of pro-democracy protests marked by accusations of police brutality.

Francisco Sagasti, an industrial engineer and member of the only political party that voted against the ousting of popular former president Martín Vizcarra a week ago, will be Peru’s caretaker president presiding over elections in April 2021.

Doctors say pair died of gunshot wounds as Peruvians protest against removal of Martín Vizcarra as president

Two protesters have been killed in massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Peru, the first deaths in nearly a week of unrest over the controversial removal of Martín Vizcarra as president and his replacement by a de facto government, seen by many Peruvians as a coup.

Protests have mounted demanding the resignation of Manuel Merino, the former speaker of congress who was sworn in as president on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people filling the streets of Lima and dozens of towns and cities.