Peru

Two cabinet-level ministers in Peru have resigned after interim President Jose Maria Balcazar announced he would defer a decision to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States company Lockheed Martin.

Defence Minister Carlos Diaz and Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela cited their opposition to the move in their resignation letters on Wednesday.

“A strategic decision has been taken in the area of national security with which I have a fundamental disagreement,” Diaz wrote.

The fighter jets have long been a source of controversy in Peru, where critics have questioned whether the purchase is a sign of deference to US President Donald Trump.

Last week, the left-wing Balcazar — Peru’s ninth president in a decade — announced he would leave the decision about whether to invest $3.5bn in the purchase to the country’s next elected leader.

Balcazar himself had only been in office since February, selected by Congress to replace the latest in a string of impeached presidents.

Last week, he abruptly cancelled a signing ceremony for the F-16 deal, which would have seen an initial batch of 12 new planes added to Peru’s ageing air force. The country aims to acquire 24 jets overall.

Balcazar explained he was not pulling out of the deal, but that he felt the next presidential administration should be involved in making such a hefty financial commitment.

“For us to commit such a large sum of money to the incoming government would be a poor practice for a transitional government,” Balcazar said at the time.

“We remain firm in respecting all agreements that may have been reached at the level of the armed forces, or in this case, with the relevant ministry of the air force, to carry out the corresponding negotiations.”

His decision, however, was met with pushback, both domestically and from the US. The US ambassador to Peru, Bernie Navarro, responded on April 17 with a warning posted on social media.

“If you deal with the U.S. in bad faith and undermine U.S. interests, rest assured, I, on behalf of
[President] Trump and his administration, will use every available tool to protect and promote the prosperity and security of the United States and our region,” Navarro wrote.

Critics of the deal, however, have argued that Peru has received more competitive offers from French and Swedish aircraft makers like Dassault Aviation and Saab AB, respectively.

But Navarro on Wednesday denied that the US had been outcompeted. In a statement, he wrote that the “bid was made at a high level of competitiveness” and called the plane fleet “the most technically advanced fighter jets ever built”.

He also denounced the delay as an unreasonable stoppage on a deal he characterised as already signed.

“In planning the delivery of a product of this calibre, there is no such thing as an inconsequential delay,” he wrote.

“Every delay results in significant costs. The same package cannot be available in a couple of months, or even weeks.”

The decision to spend the $3.5bn on 24 fighter jets was made in 2024 under former President Dina Boluarte. The purchase was to be financed by $2bn in domestic borrowing in 2025 and $1.5bn in 2026.

In September, the US Department of Defense approved a potential sale of F-16s to Peru.

But Boluarte was removed from office in October, and her successor, Jose Jeri, lasted just four months in office before he too was impeached.

The instability in Peru’s presidency comes at a time when the Trump administration is seeking greater influence over Latin America, as part of what the US president has called his “Donroe Doctrine”.

Already, the Trump administration has pushed Peru to distance itself from Chinese investment. In February, for instance, it publicly protested against Chinese ownership in the Pacific port of Chancay.

“Peru could be powerless to oversee Chancay, one of its largest ports, which is under the jurisdiction of predatory Chinese owners,” the Trump administration wrote in a social media post.

“We support Peru’s sovereign right to oversee critical infrastructure in its own territory. Let this be a cautionary tale for the region and the world: cheap Chinese money costs sovereignty.”

Just this week, one of Trump’s allies, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, warned that the Chinese-owned port was a danger to the US.

“That’s a direct threat in our hemisphere, right in the country of Peru,” she told a congressional committee. “For that reason, the new Peruvian government, which will be elected next June, must take it back.”

She added that, if the Peruvian government responded accordingly, “the United States will help them under the Trump administration”.

The country, however, is enmeshed in a messy presidential race replete with vote-counting delays and accusations of malpractice.

Election experts have said there is no evidence of voter fraud. But the slow vote count has left the race’s outcome undetermined, more than a week after the ballots were cast on April 12.

Right-wing leader and former First Lady Keiko Fujimori is all but assured of progressing to a run-off in June. But who will join her is uncertain.

Left-wing Congress member Roberto Sanchez is currently in the lead in the race for second place, with 12 percent of the votes tallied, but far-right candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a former mayor, is close behind with 11.9 percent. Lopez Aliaga has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration.

The final vote count for the first round of the election is expected to be delivered in May.

Traditionally, Peru’s new president should be sworn in on July 28, the country’s independence day.

Ballot delivery delays and other missteps on election day have contributed to frustration with electoral authorities.

The head of Peru’s election authority has resigned from his role amid widespread anger over the country’s chaotic general election earlier this month, with vote counting still under way.

Piero Corvetto said in a social media post on Tuesday that he was stepping down as head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), a government body tasked with organising elections in Peru.

In a letter to the National Board of Justice (JNJ), Corvetto denied that irregularities had taken place, as some politicians have alleged.

But he explained that he was leaving in a bid to increase public confidence, ahead of an anticipated second round of voting in the presidential race on June 7.

The first round of the election, held on April 12, was marred by logistical issues that led to the extension of voting hours around the capital Lima and elsewhere.

Election observers have acknowledged missteps with the electoral process but cautioned that there is no firm evidence of fraud.

Peru’s National Jury of Elections (JNE) said the voting results will be finalised no later than May 15, with the top two presidential candidates advancing to the final round.

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori leads with about 17 percent of the vote and is likely to advance to the run-off.

But who will face her remains a mystery. Left-wing Congressman Roberto Sanchez and Lima’s former far-right mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga remain virtually tied, with 12 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.

The hectic first round of voting could deepen dissatisfaction with the country’s political system at a time of protracted instability and sloping trust in government institutions.

Even before the April election, about 68 percent of Peruvians said that they had little to no trust in the country’s election authorities, according to a poll conducted by the Institute for Peruvian Studies (IEP) and the Institute Bartolome de las Casas (IBC).

Some presidential candidates, including Lopez Aliaga, have pushed unconfirmed claims of fraud and have called for the first round of voting to be nullified.

Election authorities have begun to review thousands of contested ballots that were challenged due to inconsistencies, missing details or tally sheet errors.

The EU’s election observer said the vote met democratic standards despite fraud allegations.

Peru’s presidential election result will not be finalised until mid-May, with challenged ballots from last Sunday’s vote still being reviewed, says the electoral authority.

With 93 percent of ballots counted, right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori leads with 17 percent, according to officials.

Under Peru’s electoral system, the top two candidates advance to a second-round runoff. A close contest has emerged for second spot between left-wing candidate, Roberto Sanchez on 12 percent, and ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga close behind on 11.9 percent.

The margin between the two widened slightly on Saturday to about 13,600 votes.

Yessica Clavijo, secretary general of the National Jury of Elections (JNE), said the delay was due to the review of more than 15,000 challenged ballots. About 30 percent concern the presidential race, the rest relate to legislative elections.

Lopez Aliaga, a former mayor of the capital Lima, has been the most vocal critic of the delay. He has alleged fraud without presenting evidence and called for the election to be annulled. He urged supporters of his Popular Renewal Party to protest on Sunday.

Sanchez also criticised the election process, telling reporters: “These serious organisational issues must be investigated and there must be appropriate sanctions”.

A record 35 candidates ran for president in Peru, a country that has faced years of political instability. Four of its last eight presidents have been impeached by Congress.

Voting was disrupted by delays in the delivery of election materials, forcing authorities to extend polling into Monday in parts of Lima.

Despite the setbacks, the European Union’s election observer mission said the vote met democratic standards. On Friday, prosecutors raided a warehouse belonging to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the body responsible for organising the election. Four officials have been reported to the JNE over alleged offences linked to voting rights.

The vote count continues to determine who will join conservative Keiko Fujimori in Peru’s presidential run-off in June.

Calls to remove the head of Peru’s electoral authority have intensified as delays and alleged irregularities clouded the presidential vote count.

As of Friday, no clear challenger has emerged to face conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in the June 7 run-off.

The general election was held on Sunday, but an extension was granted to accommodate for the difficulties in ballot distribution.

Pressure has mounted against the head of Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Piero Corvetto. Complaints over errors and logistical problems during Sunday’s election have been compounded by a slow tally that has rattled investor confidence and heightened uncertainty.

According to the ONPE, leftist Roberto Sanchez and ultraconservative former Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga remain locked in a close battle for second place, separated by about 13,000 votes as of Friday.

With 93.3 percent of the ballots counted, Sanchez held 12.0 percent of the vote and Lopez Aliaga 11.9 percent.

Fujimori, meanwhile, remained firmly in first place with 17 percent, positioning her for the run-off. Final results could take up to two weeks, according to local election-monitoring group Transparencia.

The vote counting has been further delayed by the roughly 5 percent of ballots that were identified for review due to missing information or errors in polling station records, according to ONPE data. Those ballots will be reviewed by a special electoral jury before being included in the final count, officials said.

Business leaders and lawmakers from across the political spectrum have called on Corvetto to step down, arguing that a replacement should oversee the second round.

“Errors this serious have consequences,” Jorge Zapata, head of business chamber CONFIEP, told local radio station RPP.

Earlier this week, Corvetto acknowledged that there had been some logistical delays that forced voting to be extended by a day, mainly in Lima. Those delays triggered fraud allegations, notably from Lopez Aliaga, who has called for counting to be suspended. Corvetto has denied that any irregularities took place.

Even so, Peru’s top electoral court, the National Jury of Elections, filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against Corvetto, citing alleged offences, including violations of voting rights. Representatives for Corvetto did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

An investigation is also under way after materials from four polling stations were found on a public road in Lima on Thursday, the police said. ONPE said on the social media platform X that the votes from those stations had already been recorded for counting.

European Union election observers said this week that they found no evidence of fraud.

April 15 (UPI) — Leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez has moved into second place in Peru’s presidential vote count, positioning himself for the runoff election as officials continue to tally ballots from the general election.

With about 90% of ballots counted, official results from Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes show Keiko Fujimori leading with 16.9% of the vote, securing her place in the runoff. The race for second place remains extremely close.

After three days of slow vote counting, Sánchez climbed to second place with 12,05% of the vote, edging far-right candidate Rafael López Aliaga, who has 11.94%.

Ballots in Peru are processed in the order they arrive, favoring candidates with stronger support in major cities during the early stages of the count. That has kept the country in suspense, as the remaining rural vote could solidify Sánchez’s lead, La República reported.

Sánchez, a congressman and head of the leftist Juntos por el Perú party, ran as the political heir to former President Pedro Castillo, under whom he served as trade minister. During the campaign, he adopted Castillo’s signature wide-brimmed hat in public appearances.

His platform calls for sweeping state reforms through a constituent assembly, Peru’s entry into the BRICS bloc and greater state control over strategic resources without expropriation, seeking support in the Andean south and rural regions.

If Sánchez advances to the June 7 runoff, the result would echo Peru’s 2021 presidential election, when Castillo, then a little-known union leader, unexpectedly reached the second round against Keiko Fujimori with 18.9% of the vote.

As Sánchez gained ground, López Aliaga called the election a “systematic fraud” and demanded the vote be annulled, alleging manipulation in the electoral authority’s data transmission system and logistical chaos, El Comercio reported.

Election observation missions Tuesday backed the integrity of the process, describing the vote as credible and transparent despite logistical problems that caused delays and forced some polling stations to remain open longer, according to France 24.

Peru’s comptroller general also warned of serious problems in the distribution of tally sheets and election materials during the 2026 vote, which reportedly delayed polling station openings in parts of the country, Latina TV reported.

Election authorities said the prolonged count is largely due to the technical complexity of processing ballots that combined five simultaneous elections: president, national senators, regional senators, lower house lawmakers and Andean Parliament representatives.

Voters were asked to choose among 35 presidential candidates and nearly 10,000 candidates for Congress and the Andean Parliament.

Facing criticism and legal complaints over the delay, the electoral office director, Piero Corvetto, defended the process and urged calm as officials continue counting ballots from Peru’s most remote rural areas.

Voters to choose from 35 presidential candidates, including a comedian, a media baron and a political dynasty heiress.

Polls have opened in Peru’s presidential and legislative elections, with no clear frontrunner amid years of political instability.

Since 2018, Peru has seen eight presidents, with a high turnover rate marred by impeachments and corruption scandals, leading to voter disillusionment with weak governments.

Some 27 million Peruvians are eligible to vote on Sunday to pick the country’s ninth leader in a decade, with polling stations across the country opening at 7am (12:00 GMT) and closing at 5pm (22:00 GMT), with preliminary results expected shortly afterwards.

With 35 candidates on the presidential ballot, Peruvians will choose from a wide range of potential leaders, including a comedian, a media baron, a political dynasty heiress, and a hard‑line ex‑mayor who likens himself to a cartoon pig.

However, all major candidates continue to poll well below the 50 percent needed to win the election, making a June 7 run-off appear likely.

A fruit seller in Lima told the Reuters news agency that she was still undecided on who to vote for.

“Peru is a mess, and there’s no candidate worth voting for,” Gloria Padilla said.

Clothing merchant Maria Fernandez, 56, also shared the same sentiment.

“I wouldn’t vote for anyone. I’m so disappointed with everyone in power,” Fernandez told the AFP news agency.

“We’ve been governed by nothing but corrupt, thieving scoundrels,” she added.

The most well-known candidate is conservative Keiko Fujimori, who will make her fourth presidential bid after reaching the run-off in all three previous races.

While Fujimori has taken a position of guarantor of order and economic stability, her candidacy remains polarising due to her family legacy. Her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, was convicted of human rights abuses and corruption before he died in 2024.

On the eve of the election, Fujimori told the AFP news agency that she would “restore order” in her first 100 days if she were to win, sending the army into jails, deporting illegal migrants and strengthening security at the border.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Ricardo Belmont – a former mayor of the capital, Lima, running for the centre-left Civic Party Obras – was polling in second place.

Popular comedian Carlos Alvarez follows behind Belmont in pre-election polls and has campaigned on a platform of being tough on crime, as Peru’s homicide rate has more than doubled in the past decade.

Congress versus the presidency

Experts like Tuesta argue that the last decade of political instability has all but rendered Peru’s executive branch a secondary power.

By contrast, its unicameral Congress has expanded its might, though its members are largely unpopular among Peruvians.

Part of its influence comes from its impeachment powers. Peru’s Congress can remove presidents for “moral incapacity”, a catch-all term that has been used to denounce anything from undisclosed meetings to security crises.

Paulo Vilca, a researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, explained that the shifting power dynamics have made it difficult for presidents to remain in office.

“In the past, we used to elect presidents for five years. Now, what’s more likely is that they will not last five years,” said Vilca.

But Peru’s unicameral Congress will come to an end this year. On Sunday, Peruvians will vote for a second congressional chamber, a Senate, for the first time since 1990.

Vilca argues that the congressional election may be even more important than this year’s presidential race. But it will also likely deepen Peru’s ongoing political crisis, he added.

He predicts that Congress’s chambers will soon be in conflict with each other, as well as with the president, in a three-way battle for power.

“It is very likely that those who are elected deputies, for example, will not be very satisfied with having a subordinate position in front of the Senate,” Vilca said. “So we’re going to move from a crisis of two to a crisis of three.”

The Senate was eliminated in 1992 by the late President Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori’s father, after he dissolved Peru’s bicameral Congress and implemented military rule.

The younger Fujimori has sought to build on her father’s legacy, and her right-wing party, Fuerza Popular, has become a deciding force in the unicameral legislature.

Keiko Fujimori even pledged to use her party’s power to “govern from Congress” after her defeat in the 2016 presidential race.

Since then, analysts have argued that Fuerza Popular has led efforts to change governmental processes to maintain or expand its power, even at the expense of democratic participation.

One change that it championed and passed in 2025 requires parties to earn at least 5 percent of the overall vote and a minimum of seven seats in the lower chamber to maintain their official political registration. For the Senate, parties must get at least three seats and 5 percent of votes.

Critics have said the measure creates a nearly insurmountable threshold.

“This whole system has been designed by the parties that are currently in Congress. And in particular, the one that has controlled the Constitutional Committee all these years has been Fuerza Popular,” said Vilca.

“I think the purpose of designing this whole model has been to maintain a status quo, which the Fujimori wing has also created in the last five years.”

Vilca is not optimistic that a new Senate will resolve the erosion of power away from the presidency. If anything, he anticipates more conflicts to come.

“My most likely scenario is that the crisis continues,” he said, “that whoever is elected president will enter into confrontation with the Senate”.

It has been branded ‘brutal’ and ‘absolute hell’

The world’s longest bus journey spans 4,000 miles and has racked up a negative reputation. It takes over 100 hours to travel the route, which is roughly six days.

The journey connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as it goes from Lima in Peru to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It is made possible thanks to the Trans-Oceanic Highway.

The legendary Transoceánica holds the title of being the longest regularly scheduled, direct commercial bus route in the world.

It runs weekly by the Brazilian bus company and passes through coastal cities, savannas, wetlands, rainforests and the Andes Mountains.

The bus departs on Thursdays at 1pm and promises to be a ride passengers won’t forget. There are 44 regular seats and 12 sleeping berths on board. There’s also a toilet, small sink, water dispenser and Wi-Fi.

However, there are no showers on board. To be able to wash, passengers use facilities during the three scheduled stops per day at roadside stations.

The bus is driven by two alternating drivers, with one resting in a sleeping cabin while the other drives. According to Check My Bus, the ticket price is approximately R$1,300, which is around £186.

From the bus, passengers are able to see world-famous sites including the Amazon Basin, Andes Mountains, Christ the Redeemer and Machu Picchu.

Starting in Rio de Janeiro, the bus makes its way through São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Acre, until it reaches the border with Peru.

It then goes through the Peruvian Amazon, crosses the Andes and takes the Transoceanic Highway to Lima, the capital of Peru.

Despite the stunning scenery, some passengers have found the journey very tricky.

YouTuber Noel Phillips travelled the route and branded it “gruelling” and “absolute hell”. He said that on the bus, personal space was a non-existent concept.

In a video documenting the trip, Noel said: “Nobody has [headphones]; everyone just plays everything on full blast. And when they can’t hear it above everybody else’s, they just turn theirs up so in the end you just have 15 phones playing different things at 55,000 decibels.”

Noel admitted that by the time he reached Brazil, the journey felt repetitive. He faced a number of delays on his journey as well as a lack of heating on the bus.