June 09, 2021
Far-left trade unionist Pedro Castillo has cast himself as the winner of Peru's presidential election, thanking foreign nations for "victory" messages even as election officials said Wednesday the race was not over.
With over 98 percent of votes cast in Sunday's presidential poll counted by Wednesday morning, Castillo retained a leading score of 50.2 percent over rightwing populist rival Keiko Fujimori's 49.7 percent.
Late Tuesday, addressing celebrating supporters in Lima, Castillo thanked Latin American countries for their messages of congratulations for his "victory".
"We will be a government respectful of democracy, of the current constitution, we will... create a government with financial and economic stability," he told the singing and dancing crowd.