91仓库

LIMA – Peru’s Keiko Fujimori is a perennial political loser. She has run for the nation’s presidency three elections in a row — and three times, she has lost.

But on this, her fourth attempt, the daughter of disgraced late president Alberto Fujimori is on the verge of winning.

With almost all the ballots counted, Fujimori held 50.12% of the vote, a margin of just over 43,000 over her leftist rival Roberto Sanchez, according to electoral authorities.

The 51-year-old came head-to-head with Sanchez in a June 7 runoff, under the still-divisive legacy of her father, who ruled Peru in the 1990s.

Fujimori’s surname is recognized across the Andean nation, which has had eight presidents since 2016.

“It is a brand that is well positioned, whether you like it or not,” said political scientist Jorge Aragon.

This fourth attempt “may be the one that works,” he said.

Poised and polished, with a sharp pantsuit and practiced smile, Fujimori looks like someone raised for politics.

A business administrator educated in the United States, she has served as a lawmaker and leads her party.

She became first lady at 19, after her mother publicly broke with Alberto Fujimori, and grew up alongside heads of state and foreign leaders.

Alberto Fujimori led Peru through the turbulent 1990s, crushing Maoist Shining Path rebels and taming hyperinflation.

But he was later disgraced, exiled and jailed for corruption and crimes against humanity.

For decades, the Fujimori name has helped and haunted Keiko, giving her instant recognition, loyal voters and deep political networks — but also plenty of critics.

“I miss him,” she said in April. “But everywhere I go, people remind me of him and tell me anecdotes.”

Millions of Peruvians hold darker memories of her father and refuse to vote for anyone bearing the Fujimori name, blocking her path to the presidency three times.

“In the last 25 years, we have been governed by anti-Fujimori governments,” she said, making a single exception for Alan Garcia.

“All the others focused on insults and generating hatred and division among Peruvians.”

Critics blame her and her party for much of Peru’s political instability, citing Fuerza Popular’s heavy influence and deal-making in Congress.

This was her first presidential campaign without her father, who died in 2024.

With crime now the top concern for voters, she leaned into his legacy under a single word: “order.”

“I believe Peruvians want a Fujimori,” she said. “Here I am.”

Those close to Fujimori describe her as persistent, disciplined and relentless.

“Every blow life has dealt her has not broken her, it has made her stronger than anyone could imagine,” said her vice-presidential running mate Miki Torres.

She spent more than a year in...