Peru's Fujimori takes office, vows military-led crackdown on crime
Newly inaugurated President Keiko Fujimori pledged to deploy the military in areas plagued by crime, drug trafficking, and illegal mining, amid Peru's worst security crisis in decades.
Peru's conservative President Keiko Fujimori was sworn in on Tuesday, vowing to tackle the wave of crime sweeping the Andean nation. On her fourth presidential bid, Fujimori won June's runoff by fewer than 50,000 votes. Addressing Congress, she announced plans to deploy the military to areas where crime, drug trafficking, and illegal mining are rampant. "During states of emergency, the armed forces will temporarily take the lead in security operations" until they can "return these territories to the citizens," she said. A group of leftist lawmakers left the room in protest. The inauguration was attended by several Latin American leaders, including Argentina's Javier Milei, Chile's Jose Antonio Kast, Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa, and Uruguay's Yamandu Orsi. The 51-year-old ran a campaign shadowed by the divisive legacy of her father, Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru in the 1990s and was jailed for corruption and crimes against humanity. Her hardline messaging taps into Peru's worst security crisis in decades, fueled by local and foreign criminal gangs overseeing contract killings and extortion. She has proposed fighting crime by expelling undocumented people, setting up courts with anonymous judges, and making prisoners work for their food. "She is going to be a replica of her father," said 80-year-old retiree Cesar Fuentes, who fears abuses. But housewife Nelly Vega, 68, believes Fujimori "is going to lead us to something better." Fujimori also vowed to tackle the El Niño climate phenomenon, which meteorologists predict will be the most intense since 1998. Right-wing parties in Congress still lack a majority, but Fujimori's Fuerza Popular party, the largest, carries significant weight. She will govern until 2031 after a decade of political chaos. "There are high expectations," said independent worker Marci Angeles, 31, "but given how she has behaved as an opposition leader, the outlook is not good." Fujimori has called for reconciliation, but families of state violence victims are skeptical. On Monday, over 100 people held a vigil in the capital, vowing to reject the new government and demanding justice for crimes under the previous Fujimori administration.
