Peruvian voters took to the polls on Sunday to choose between political novice Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori, who is making her third run for the presidency.
This week’s confirmation of just how catastrophic the pandemic has been for Peru helps explain the similarly disastrous political scenario voters face just days ahead of a dispiriting second-round presidential election. But Peru is only one of several South American nations where the political future looks remarkably muddled.
April 15, 2021 last updated 8:48 ET Presidential candidate of the Peru Libre party Pedro Castillo speaks during a conference in Chota, Peru, April 14, 2021 (AP photo by Martin Mejia).
Peru’s Political Nightmare Just Got Worse
A dozen years ago, when Peruvians were heading to the polls for a presidential runoff election, the acclaimed novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, who had himself once tried his hand at politics, famously likened the choice voters faced between the two remaining candidates to that between AIDS and cancer. Since then, Peruvians have seen their political system careen off the rails, culminating in last weekend’s first-round presidential election, the outcome of which sent financial markets tumbling and left the country in shock.
Amid false starts, COVID-19 and a close race, Peru’s presidential vote gets underway Marco Aquino Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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BRAIAN REYNA/Reuters
Peruvians headed out to vote on Sunday in a presidential election marked by uncertainty due to widespread public apathy following decades of graft and mismanagement and a possible low turnout because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT), with twice as many sites available to voters than in previous elections as authorities try to avoid fuelling a second coronavirus wave that has gripped the Andean nation.