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The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, issued an official statement from the Department of State on Tuesday to congratulate Keiko Fujimori on her victory in the presidential elections in Peru.
"The United States congratulates elected President Keiko Fujimori of Peru on her significant electoral victory," Rubio stated in the announcement, in which he also indicated that the Trump administration looks forward to "deepening collaboration with the elected government to advance cooperation in security and strengthen bilateral cooperation in investment and trade in our region."
The congratulation arrives a day after the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) completed the official counting to 100% of the ballots, on Monday, 22 days after the second round held on June 7.
Fujimori, at the age of 51 and leader of the right-wing party Fuerza Popular, received 50.135% of the valid votes, which amounts to 9,223,396 ballots, compared to the 9,173,755 votes of his leftist rival Roberto Sánchez Palomino, from Juntos por el Perú.
The final difference was just 49,641 votes, a narrow margin that makes this election one of the most hotly contested in recent Peruvian history.
The determining factor was the vote of Peruvians abroad: Fujimori won with 63.2% in that segment and accumulated a lead of 81,655 votes outside the country, enough to overturn the 32,014 votes that Sánchez garnered within Peruvian territory.
Sánchez denounced what he called a "fraud in progress," claiming that the consular records of 119 offices abroad were not digitized immediately after the voting, and announced that he would not recognize a potential government of Fujimori.
In that context of post-electoral dispute, Rubio's congratulation reinforces the international recognition of Fujimori's victory and sets the tone for the bilateral relationship that Washington hopes to build with Lima.
Keiko Fujimori's victory is the culmination of four consecutive presidential bids: she lost in the second round in 2011 to Ollanta Humala, in 2016 to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and in 2021 to Pedro Castillo by less than 44,000 votes.
With this triumph, Fujimori becomes the first woman elected president of Peru by popular vote, a distinction that does not apply to Dina Boluarte, who assumed the position in 2022 through constitutional succession.
The victory of Fujimorismo occurs less than two years after the death of Alberto Fujimori on September 11, 2024, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000 during a period marked by both economic stabilization and serious human rights violations.
The relationship between Washington and Lima under the Trump administration is characterized by concern over China's influence in the region, particularly regarding the port of Chancay, built by the Chinese company Cosco Shipping Ports, as well as issues related to security and drug trafficking.
According to the Peruvian ambassador to the United States, Alfredo Ferrero, in June 2026, Rubio is scheduled to visit Peru before the end of the year, which could be one of the first concrete gestures of the new bilateral phase.
Fujimori will assume the presidency on July 28, 2026 for the term 2026-2031, once the National Jury of Elections formally hands over the credentials, an event scheduled for July 2.
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