Peru’s socialists cheer on likely election win

LIMA — Peru’s socialist party and presidential candidate Pedro Castillo have cheered their likely victory in the Andean country’s tightly-contested election, despite rightwing rival Keiko Fujimori’s pledge to fight on until the last vote is counted.

The polarized contest, a crossroads moment for the mineral-rich nation, seems set to tilt Peru sharply to the left, which has rattled the political establishment, markets and miners in the world’s No. 2 producer of the red metal copper.

Castillo, a former teacher, was leading Sunday with 50.14 per cent of the vote with 99.935 per cent of ballots tallied, with the route back for Fujimori, who has made unfounded allegations of fraud, looking increasingly unlikely — barring an unexpected late twist.

“The people have already chosen their path,” Castillo told hundreds of his followers on Saturday night in Lima and asked the authorities to wrap up the count as fast as possible.

“No more polarization in the country. Let us leave it to the authorities so that once and for all these things are no longer prolonged and so the popular will is respected.”

Thousands of Peruvian supporters of both Castillo and Fujimori marched in Lima on Saturday as anxiety over the painstaking vote count has continued to build.

The gap between the two candidates is less than 0.3 of a percentage point, or some 49,420 votes. Fujimori, the heir of a powerful political family and daughter of expresident Alberto Fujimori who is in prison for human rights abuses and corruption, has insisted on claims of fraud and sought unsuccessfully to annul as many as 200,000 votes.

“I am a person who never gives up,” Fujimori, 46, told hundreds of supporters as she led a protest on Saturday in downtown Lima, many of her backers holding the red and white Peruvian flag.