Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary, congratulates Keiko Fujimori on her election in Peru; result needs to be made official

Elections in Peru: Keiko Fujimori achieves an irreversible advantage and must be elected.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, congratulated on Tuesday the virtual president-elect of Peru, the right-wing Keiko Fujimori, for her victory in the second round and offered to strengthen security cooperation.
With 100% of the votes counted, the right-wing candidate for president of Peru Keiko Fujimori has the majority of votes in the second round of elections and is the virtual president-elect of the country, according to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE).
The National Electoral Juror (JNE), the highest election body in the country, still needs to make the ONPE result official to declare Keiko the winner, which should happen by next Friday (3). Officialization is pending proclamation of official results in some regions of the country by the JNE court, the Special Electoral Juror (JEE).
"The Trump administration looks forward to deepening collaboration with the Fujimori government to boost security cooperation and strengthen bilateral cooperation in investment and trade in our region," Rubio said in a statement.
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➡The vote took place on June 7th. The counting of votes showed a scenario of strong polarization in the country, with only 49,641 votes separating the two candidates.
Fujimori appears with 9,223,396 votes, or 50.135%, against 9,137,755 votes for his competitor, the left-wing deputy Roberto Sánchez, or 49.865% of the votes.
"ONPE reached 100% of the minutes verified. All observations by the JEE have already been resolved. We await the JNE's proclamation with great humility, prudence and responsibility. We are increasingly closer to starting a path of order and hope for all Peruvians", posted Fujimori on the social network Fujimori.
Keiko Fujimori gives a speech in Lima, on June 24, 2026
Angela Ponce/Reuters
Promise to unite the country
Last Wednesday, when she achieved an irreversible vote advantage in the count, Keiko gave a speech as the de facto winner of the election, but without claiming victory. She promised to bring the country back together.
"We are aware that Peru is divided, that it is practically split in half", said Fujimori in front of reporters in Lima.
The Peruvian press claims that Fujimori, daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, should be declared the new president of Peru, despite her opponent Sánchez not recognizing the result (read more below). The right-wing will replace the current president, José María Balcázar Zelada, left-wing, who took power on an interim basis just four months ago.
Zelada replaced former president José Jeri, who was also in office for just four months and was removed by Congress for misconduct after it came to light that he participated in undisclosed meetings with Chinese businesspeople. His predecessor, Dina Boluarte, was also removed due to corruption scandals.
Boluarte was also interim and had replaced former president Pedro Castillo, who was arrested after dissolving Congress and declaring a state of exception, in a maneuver to try to circumvent an impeachment process.
The crises were just the latest involving presidents of Peru, which has been experiencing one of the worst periods of political instability in its history in the last decade. In the last eight years alone, the Andean country has had eight presidents.
Sánchez alleges alleged administrative irregularities and problems in the management of voting ballots by the electoral body in elections held abroad. Lawyers specializing in electoral law, interviewed by the local newspaper El Comercio, state that the request has no legal basis and only serves to delay the official proclamation of the results.
Peru's right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori and left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez before a televised debate on May 31 in Lima, on the eve of the second round of presidential elections, scheduled for June 7.
Reuters/Alessandro Cinque

Source: G1