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The “Shadowy Figure” Behind Peru’s Likely Next President Vladimir CerrónPaco Sanseviero/Grupo El Comercio
He’s been called the man behind Peru’s likely next president.
As the founder and leader of the far-left party Perú Libre, Vladimir Cerrón has been described by some as the real architect of Pedro Castillo’s rise to power. For many critics, Castillo, a teacher and union leader with no experience in elected office, is just a Trojan horse for Cerrón, a Marxist former governor whose conviction on corruption charges kept him from running for president himself.
Castillo is expected to take office in July, pending official results and his opponent’s attempts to prove electoral fraud, but it’s unclear whether Cerrón will be the one really pulling the strings – or a liability for a president with little room for errors.
Pedro Castillo and the 500-Year-Old Lima vs Rural Divide
A vast, ancient gap in living standards helps explain the presidential frontrunner’s appeal. Pedro Castillo speaks during a debate on May 1 from his community of Chota, in Cajamarca.CESAR BAZAN/AFP via Getty Images
Correction appended below
In 1532, in Peru’s highland region of Cajamarca, the Spanish invader Francisco Pizarro captured the last Incan emperor, Atahualpa, in a surprise massacre that ensured the empire’s demise.
Today, Cajamarca may once again be the site of a historic turning point – as the home of Pedro Castillo, the leftist farmer and schoolteacher who is now the frontrunner to win a June 6 runoff and become Peru’s next president. His insurgent campaign has emphasized the vast gap in living standards between Lima and the countryside, a problem with roots going back to the conquest of the 16