April 14, 2021 In a meteoric rise from the margins of Peru’s crowded presidential race, elementary school teacher and union activist Pedro Castillo won an unexpected lead in the country’s first-round election on April 11. With almost 20 percent of the vote, he has now secured a spot in the second round, where he is expected to face off against conservative politician Keiko Fujimori. Fujimori, daughter of dictator and convicted human rights violator Alberto Fujimori, is a free market defender accused of leading a criminal organization within her party, Fuerza Popular. Voters cast their ballots in the bicentennial election in the midst of the daunting effects of the pandemic, a major economic crisis, and ongoing political instability that has rocked the country for (at least) three years. In the 2016 elections, neoliberal technocrat Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) defeated Keiko Fujimori by a scarce margin. In Congress, fujimoristas—the largest bloc—focused on ousting the president to force early elections. Despite obscure negotiations that included a presidential pardon of Alberto Fujimori, PPK resigned in March 2018, handing power to vice president Martín Vizcarra, who undertook valiant anti-corruption efforts and substantial political reform proposals.