- 11 April 2016
- Latin America & Caribbean
Reuters
Centre-right candidate Keiko Fujimori has won the first round of Peru's presidential election, early results say.
With two-fifths of ballots counted, Ms Fujimori had 39% and appeared likely to face Pedro Kuczynski, a former World Bank economist, in a June run-off vote.
Mr Kuczynski had 24% while leftist Veronika Mendoza had 17%.
Ms Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, says tackling crime is her priority.
She is also supported by some Peruvians who credit her father with defeating the country's Maoist Shining Path rebel group.
However, other Peruvians have said they would never support anyone associated with her father, who is currently serving 25 years in prison for ordering death squads to massacre civilians during his attempts to end the insurgency.
The Shining Path rebel group was largely dismantled in the 1990s after a decade-long conflict that killed about 69,000 people.
However, rebels estimated to number in the hundreds still control areas of jungle in a coca-growing region of the country and the Peruvian authorities say they have joined forces with drug gangs.
Remnants of the group are thought to have been behind a deadly attack on a vehicle carrying election materials in a remote coca-growing region ahead of the election.
Peru is one of the biggest coca leaf and cocaine producers in the world, according to the US authorities.
AP
No comments:
Post a Comment