Castillo named president-elect in Peru, Fujimori concedes

The 51-year-old former rural teacher has promised to create a fairer and more equitable country.

Rural teacher-turned-politician Pedro Castillo has been named Peru’s president-elect, six weeks after a polarising vote in which his right-wing rival, Keiko Fujimori, alleged electoral fraud. The official count – released on Monday and more than a month after the runoff election took place – showed Castillo, whose supporters included Peru’s poor and rural citizens, defeated Fujimori by just 44,000 votes. She now faces trial on charges of corruption. “On behalf of my family I would like to salute the electoral authorities … and also to salute the political parties that have taken part in this democratic celebration,” Castillo told hundreds of supporters gathered at the headquarters of his Peru Libre (Free Peru) party in Lima.