Keiko Fujimori, daughter and political heir of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), announced this Friday her candidacy for the Presidency of Peru for the fourth time in her political career, after having lost in the second round in the last three elections (2011, 2016 and 2021).
At a rally held in the northern city of Trujillo, one of the most affected by the rise of organized crime gangs, Fujimori confirmed that she will be a presidential candidate again in 2026barely a week after the Constitutional Court ordered that the trial where she was accused of money laundering for the irregular financing of her previous electoral campaigns be archived.
The leader of the Fujimori Popular Force party specified that she will be a candidate only for the Presidency and that she will not lead her party’s list for the Senate because she does not want “a consolation prize” and because she does not want or need immunity, in reference to the so-called ‘Cocktails case’, for which she had been prosecuted for nearly 10 years.
“Today here, surrounded by the Fujimori family, accompanied in the distance by Peruvians who watch us on social networks, I want to announce my decision to be a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic for Fuerza Popular,” said Keiko Fujimori to applause.
The candidate, still pending confirmation in internal party elections and officially registering her application with the electoral authorities, announced that In this new adventure he will be accompanied by former congressmen Luis Galarreta and Miguel Torrestwo men of his utmost confidence, as candidates for the first and second vice presidency, respectively.
“They have great political experience, they also know all about public management and have always had the ability to generate dialogue and consensus,” said Keiko.
With the “strong hand” of the ‘Chinese’
Fujimori assured that the country already fought terrorism under the leadership of his father, who died in September 2024 and whom his daughter remembered with some images, and that with determination, he will overcome the wave of violence, which especially affects Lima and Trujillo.
The presidential candidate asserted that she will govern like ‘El Chino’ (her father): with a strong hand, but also like mothers govern in their homes, with a cool head, a big heart and clean hands.”
“We are going to work without the intention of revenge, but to seek a true reconciliation. “I don’t promise miracles, but results,” said Fujimori, who encouraged attendees not to be afraid.
Fujimori called to “continue dreaming, we have the ability to confront this violence or rather urban terrorism, but this urban terrorism is not confronted with speeches, nice words or acting from desks, this damned violence must be confronted in the streets, going out with the Armed Forces and with intelligence,” he indicated.
“Fujimorism is going to bring the authority that all Peruvians need,” Fujimori added when making a claim for his father’s legacy for the economic growth and pacification of the country against the subversive groups Sendero Luminoso and Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA).
Close losses
Fujimori lost the second round of the Peruvian presidential elections against Ollanta Humala in 2011 by 2.9 percentage points in valid votes, against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2016 by 0.26 points, equivalent to about 42,500 votes; and against Pedro Castillo in 2021 also by 0.26 points, equivalent to 44,300 votes.
The daughter of the former ruler has never accepted the results of her last two defeats until now. considering without reliable evidence that there was some type of fraud to prevent him from winning, so from Congress, where Fujimori has been the most numerous force in recent years, he has sought to develop his political project with fierce opposition to presidents who faced Fujimori such as Martín Vizcarra (2028-2020) and Pedro Castillo (2020-2021).
So far, the ultra-conservative former mayor of Lima Rafael López Aliaga for Renovación Popular and the businessman and former governor César Acuña, for the right-wing party Alianza Para el Progreso (APP), have also announced their candidacies for the 2026 elections.