Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala leaves Barbadillo prison after the Constitutional Court overturned his 15-year sentence for money laundering, in Lima, Peru, July 31, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Peru’s conservative Keiko Fujimori addresses the media at her party’s Popular Force headquarters, after she narrowly defeated leftist congressman Roberto Sanchez in the Peruvian presidential election, ahead of the official result announcement, in Lima, Peru, June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Angela Ponce
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The winner of Peru’s presidential runoff election was not yet known hours after polls closed on Sunday (June 8, 2026) as electoral authorities slowly tallied votes cast for the ninth head of state in 10 years.

Figures released by electoral authorities showed conservative politician Keiko Fujimori with a modest lead over nationalist congressman Roberto Sánchez with 58% of ballots tallied in a contest overshadowed by people’s concerns about surging crime. The outcome, expected to be tight, may not be known for days.

The figures showed Ms. Fujimori received 5.96 million votes, or 52.6%, while Mr. Sánchez earned 5.36 million votes, or 47.4%.

Unlike the first-round vote, no major incidents delayed the opening or closure of voting centers. In the capital, however, voter turnout throughout on Sunday (June 7, 2026) appeared lower than in the previous contest, with practically no lines in many voting centers, despite voting being mandatory.

Ms. Fujimori, daughter of a disgraced former President, and Mr. Sánchez, an ally of an imprisoned ex-president, were on the runoff’s ballot after beating 33 other candidates in the vote in April, but neither earned even 20% of support. Electoral authorities took more than a month to declare them winners of that contest.

Crime, particularly extortion, remained the overarching concern for voters. A 2025 national survey carried out by the state’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics found that 84% of respondents in urban areas feared becoming victims of a crime in the following 12 months.

Experts attribute the increasing power of organized crime in Peru to the profits that decades-old criminal groups are earning from illegal gold mining in the Andes and the Amazon.

But the candidates’ crime-fighting proposals were not enough to make inroads with voters, many of whom associate each aspiring president with controversial Peruvian politicians.

Official results from April’s election showed Ms. Fujimori received 17% of the vote and Mr. Sánchez got 12%. More than six weeks later, a nationwide poll conducted by Ipsos found that similar shares of voters were supporting the candidates, with about 3 in 10 saying they were undecided.

Ms.Fujimori is linked to the authoritarian and corrupt legacy of the government of her late father, Alberto Fujimori, in the 1990s. She became Peru’s first lady in 1994 after her parents’ separation.

Mr. Sánchez is one of the closest allies of jailed former President Pedro Castillo, whom many perceive as corrupt and chaotic. Castillo’s 16-month term saw more than 70 Cabinet changes.

Food vendor Magali Quiquia said she cast a blank ballot because she did not find either candidate convincing,

“Five years ago, I was disappointed by Castillo with his corruption, and … Roberto Sánchez is the same,” Quiquia, 44, said. She added that she believes “Fujimori hasn’t done anything either” despite her party having multiple seats in Congress.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians aged 18 to 70. Failure to do so results in a fine of up to $32.

More than 27 million people are registered. Of those, about 1.2 million were expected to cast ballots from abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.

For most of her fourth presidential campaign, Ms. Fujimori promised to crack down on crime. Her proposals included implementing technology to track extortion, militarizing borders and increasing the presence of police and military personnel in high-risk areas. Ms. Fujimori, 51, also said that prisoners will be required to work and “repay society” should she win.

In the only debate before the runoff, Ms. Fujimori defended her father’s government and promised to defeat crime just as he defeated the Shining Path, a violent extremist group.

Mr. Sánchez, a former Minister now popular with rural voters, pledged to combat corruption within the police force and promote reforms that would enable the military to support security efforts.

The 57-year-old, who wears a wide-brimmed peasant hat gifted by Castillo, told debate viewers that he would be open to “all options to generate jobs and progress” but also emphasized his support for Chinese investments.

Mr. Sánchez tried to ease the concerns his candidacy is generating among investors, saying he will not nationalize any assets of transnational companies that extract minerals or gas from Peru.

Lima resident Heidi Ramírez, 41, said she was undecided until she was in line at the voting center. After talking with friends who “convinced me,” she said she chose Mr. Sánchez.

The United States ambassador to Peru, Bernie Navarro, stopped by a voting center in Lima on Sunday (June 7, 2026). Upon leaving, he told the television station Latina his visit was to “observe and ensure that there is transparency here.”

The runoff’s winner will be sworn in to a five-year term on July 28.

Published – June 08, 2026 10:34 am IST

Peru said Mexico’s decision to grant Peruvian former Prime Minister Betssy Chavez asylum at its Embassy in Peru’s capital, Lima, constituted an “unfriendly act”arrives for her trial on charges of rebellion and conspiracy against the state at a police base on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
| Photo Credit: AP

Dina Boluarte speaks during an address to the nation after Peru’s Congress voted unanimously on Friday to remove her as president, in Lima, Peru, October 10, 2025, in this still image taken from video.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In a bizarre Valentine’s Day surprise, a police officer in Peru’s capital Lima, carried out a drug raid while wearing a capybara costume, as per a BBC report. Video footage going viral on social media shows the officer, dressed up as the giant rodent, zeroing in on the suspected drug trafficker. The officer can be seen barging into the house, tackling the accused man to the ground and putting him in handcuffs.

Police officials stated that more than 1,700 packages of cocaine and marijuana were found during the raid. Notably, Peru’s Escuadron Verde – a specialist anti-drugs unit carried out the operation using the rather unconventional method.

“On this occasion, Valentine’s Day, lover’s day, we sought to camouflage ourselves with the character of the capybara,” said unit leader Col Pedro Rojas.

Notably, the same unit has previously dressed their officers up as Marvel characters like Spiderman, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow whilst carrying out the drug raids. The agents wear the fancy dress during festivities such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas.

Capybara undercover: Peruvian police strike again with new detention tactics

This time, an officer of the National Police of Peru disguised himself as a capybara to apprehend a drug trafficker.

(@geopolitics_live telegram) pic.twitter.com/oWchS0WCva

— Roberto Botella (@botella_roberto) February 15, 2025

Also Read | New Frog Species Named After Hollywood Actor Leonardo DiCaprio

Social media reacts

As the video garnered numbers on social media, users reacted in a humorous vein with many poking fun at the drug traffickers who got arrested by a giant rodent.

“Well, that’s one way to maintain your cover,” said one user, while another added: “The drug trafficker must have lost all respect in his community after being arrested by a CAPYBARA. Lol. You cannot write this”

A third commented: “Thank you capybara cop, whoever you are. And thank you for giving us a good laugh.”

On Halloween last year, the Peruvian police officers dressed up as Deadpool and Wolverine and conducted a similar drug raid. At the time, the superhero-dressed officers managed to seize 54 bags of cocaine, 850 packets of coca base paste, and over Rs 46,800 (2,000 Peruvian soles).

As per the United Nations, the South American country is one of the world’s largest producers of coca leaf and cocaine.

Engineer and mastodon researcher Oscar Diaz cleans remains of an Ice Age mastodon, believed to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old, in Chambara, Peru September 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The fossilized remains of three mastodons from the Ice Age have been uncovered in the Peruvian Andes, raising questions as to how the behemoths arrived in the area.

Excavations starting in 2019 uncovered the behemoths, believed to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old, in the valley of the town of Chambara, about 300 km (186 miles) east of Lima.

One of the specimens is nearly complete, and could be the most preserved mastodon in all of Peru, said paleontologist Ivan Meza.

“If the skull is found – and everything indicates that the tusks are there – that would have scientific importance at a national and global scale,” Meza said.

Mastodons were similar to the also-extinct mammoth, but had flatter heads and straighter tusks.

Scientists now hope to find more fossils in the area, which could shed light on how and when the mastodons arrived.

“We’re talking about a small area of less than one hectare,” Meza said. “To date we’ve discovered three specimens, with the possibility of there being more, and from other types of animals.”

The mastodons likely migrated from North America down to South America in search of food and water as climate conditions changed, experts believe.

“Over time, the Andes mountain range rose and the sea water receded,” said researcher Oscar Diaz. “This area dried up and left lagoons across the Mantaro Valley,” he added, which would have provided a source of water.

Peru is a rich source of prehistoric remains. In April, a team of paleontologists unveiled the fossilized skull of a river dolphin, the largest found to date, which had swam through the Peruvian Amazon some 16 million years ago.

A priest conducts a ceremony during the burial of former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori at the Campo Fe de Huachipa cemetery on September 14, 2024, in Lima, Peru.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was buried on Saturday (September 14, 2024) after three days of national mourning in which thousands of supporters lined up outside a museum in Lima to visit the politician’s casket.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte saluted the former President before his burial at a pompous ceremony held in the Presidential Palace, where his casket was saluted by soldiers dressed in 19th-century uniforms.

Also Read: Peru’s Fujimori, pardon annulled, forced back to prison

But Mr. Boluarte did not speak about Mr. Fujimori, a divisive figure who ruled Peru for a decade, and whose eldest daughter is now one of the country’s most influential politicians.

Mr. Fujimori died of cancer on Wednesday (September 11, 2024) at age 86. He was Peru’s President from 1990 to 2000 and had been in prison for most of the past 15 years after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

Mr. Fujimori was a university professor when he burst onto Peru’s political scene in the early 90s. His administration helped to put the nation’s economy on track following years of hyperinflation and defeated the Shining Path, a fanatic communist group that led a violent campaign to overthrow the Government.

Also Read: Fujimori released after controversial pardon

But Mr. Fujimori’s government took an authoritarian turn in 1992, when he ordered the military to shut down Peru’s congress and its Supreme Court and declared a state of emergency. The measure undermined Peru’s democracy and led to a period rife with human rights abuses. Political scientists say the surprise move against the congress, known in Latin America as the “Fujimorazo,” later inspired similar efforts by other presidents in the region to undermine local legislative branches and seize more power for the executive branch.

In 2009, Mr. Fujimori was convicted for the murders of 25 people in two massacres committed by a Peruvian military squadron in the outskirts of Lima, as well as the kidnapping of a journalist following the 1992 coup against the nation’s congress. Mr. Fujimori received a 25-year prison sentence and became the first elected leader in Latin America convicted of crimes against humanity.

Mr. Fujimori spent the last years of his life fighting the 2009 ruling and other corruption cases and received a presidential pardon in 2017 from then-Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The pardon was revoked following a ruling by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights but was reinstalled at the end of last year, when Mr. Fujimori was released from prison.

On Saturday (September 14, 2024), Mr. Fujimori’s children and hundreds of his supporters attended a religious ceremony for the former President that was held at a large theater in Lima.

“Finally daddy, you are free from the hate and vengeance of those people who did not forgive you for rescuing us from hunger and terror,” Fujimori’s daughter, Keiko Fujimori said. “You are free from those years of injust imprisonment.”

Mr. Fujimori is survived by two daughters and two sons. Keiko, his eldest daughter, is a two-time presidential candidate. She now leads the conservative party Fuerza Popular, which has blocked several attempts by left-wing parties to impeach Mr. Boluarte for the deaths of dozens of anti-Government protesters in December of 2022 and January of last year.

Former Peru’s President Alberto Fujimori. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Peru’s former President Alberto Fujimori, who spent 16 years in prison for crimes against humanity, died on Wednesday (September 11, 2024) at the age of 86 in the capital Lima, his family said.

“After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has just departed to meet the Lord,” his children Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori wrote on the social media platform X.

Also read:Peru’s Fujimori, pardon annulled, forced back to prison

“We ask those who loved him to join us in praying for the eternal rest of his soul,” they wrote, adding: “Thank you for so much, Dad!”.

Mr. Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, was released from prison on humanitarian grounds in December, two-thirds of the way through a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity during his rule.

Sources close to his family told AFP earlier Wednesday (September 11, 2024) that his health had deteriorated rapidly after completing treatment for tongue cancer in August.

He was last seen in public on Thursday (September 5, 2024) as he was leaving a clinic in the Miraflores district of Lima, where he said he had undergone a CT scan.

The news of his death spread quickly on social media, where his supporters and detractors quarrelled over his legacy.

Also read: Fujimori released after controversial pardon

Just a month earlier his daughter Keiko had announced that the rightwinger would run for President again in 2026.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen expressed his condolences to the Fujimori family. “We want his children and relatives to know we feel sorrow,” he said.

Mr. Adrianzen said he would talk to the family about what kind of funeral they want. It was not clear whether Mr. Fujimori would receive a state funeral.

Mr. Fujimori, who was of Japanese heritage, was sent to prison in 2009 over massacres committed by army death squads in 1991 and 1992 in which 25 people, including a child, were killed in what he presented as anti-terrorist operations.

In December 2017, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned Mr. Fujimori due to his ill health.

But the Supreme Court later annulled the pardon and in January 2019, he was returned to jail from hospital.

Hostage crisis

He was released again in December 2023 after a court reinstated his pardon, and was adored and reviled in equal measures in Peru.

His supporters credited him with saving the country from left-wing Shining Path and Tupac Amaru guerrillas and shoring up the economy. His opponents saw him as a power-thirsty autocrat.

Also read: Peru’s President grants medical pardon for jailed Fujimori

One of the most dramatic episodes of his presidency was a four-month hostage ordeal at the Japanese embassy in Lima in late 1996-early 1997.

The standoff ended with Mr. Fujimori sending in commandos who rescued all 72 hostages and killed 14 rebels.

But the later Mr. Fujimori years were dominated by a bribery scandal involving his intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos.

Mr. Fujimori went into self-imposed exile in Japan and memorably faxed in his resignation but was arrested years later in Chile and sent back to Peru for trial.

His daughter Ms. Keiko has made three failed bids for the presidency.

Peru’s Mashco Piro tribe recently used bows and arrows to attack loggers suspected of encroaching on their territory in the Amazon. According to CBS News, the regional Indigenous organisation FENAMAD said on Monday that it believes illegal logging was taking place on Mashco Piro territory and that one logger was injured in the July 27 attack.

This comes weeks after photos emerged of the uncontacted tribe searching for food on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon. Experts say the pictures were evidence that logging concessions are “dangerously close” to its territory. Survival International, an advocacy group for Indigenous peoples which closely follows the Mashco Piro’s issues, said that photos and videos showed about 53 male Mashco Piro on the beach. The group estimated as many as 100 to 150 tribal members would have been in the area with women and children nearby. 

“It is presumably illegal because the area where the incident occurred is a forestry concession that belonged to Wood Tropical Forest until November 2022, and we are not aware of a concession that has requested or granted enabling rights in the same area,” said a FENAMAD representative, speaking anonymously out of personal security concerns, per CBS News. 

The organisation further stated that a lack of protection measures by the Peruvian government and the increased activity of companies and illegal operators on the Mascho Piro territory could produce “devastating consequences”, such as the transmission of diseases and increased violence. 

Notably, in 2022, two loggers were shot with arrows while fishing in the area. There have also been several other previous reports of conflicts, the outlet reported. 

Also Read | Skydiving Student, Instructor Die In US After Hitting “Dust Devil” During Routine Jump

According to FENAMAD, increased logging activity in the area is likely pushing the tribe out of their traditional lands. They believe that the Mashco Piro may be venturing closer to settlements in search of food and a safer refuge.

Separately, Survival International said it is pressuring the Peruvian government to move deeper into these areas of the Amazon to help control the situation. “This is a permanent emergency. For the last month we have been seeing the Mascho Piro every two weeks at different points, and in all of them they are surrounded by loggers,” Teresa Mayo, a researcher at Survival International, told CBS News. 

“It’s truly a matter of life and death. And only the government can and has the duty to stop it,” Ms Mayo said.