Peru Presidential candidates make final pitch in tight, crime-driven race

Key points

• Peru's dueling Presidential hopefuls made a final pitch to voters on Thursday (June 4, 2026) capping a bruising and razor-tight race dominated by anger over rising crime and political instability.
• Conservative Keiko Sofia Fujimori Higuchiand leftist Roberto Sanchez staged rival events in Lima ahead of Sunday's (June 7, 2026) vote, with ardent flag-waving supporters arguing their "communist" or "dictator" opponents would bring the country to ruin.
• "We cannot let them win with communism and terrorism," said bandana-wearing 65-year-old Merida Delgado Perez, a Fujimori supporter, expressing fears that the left could lead Peru down a path seen in Venezuela and Cuba.
• Each candidate has framed the election as a turning point for a country that has burned through eight Presidents in a decade.
• Polls show them separated by only a few points, with roughly a fifth of voters still undecided in the last week of the campaign.