The State Department on Tuesday offered its congratulations to conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori after she was declared the winner of Peru’s presidential runoff, an election decided by an exceptionally narrow margin.
The announcement underscored a notable moment for U.S. relations in Latin America, as Washington made clear it is prepared to engage closely with Fujimori’s incoming government on areas of mutual interest.
“The United States congratulates President-Elect Keiko Fujimori of Peru on her important electoral victory,” the department said.
“The Trump Administration looks forward to deepening collaboration with the Fujimori Administration to advance security cooperation and to strengthen bilateral cooperation on investment and trade in our region.”
Peru’s presidential candidate for the Fuerza Popular party, Keiko Fujimori, waves to supporters during a closing campaign rally in Lima on June 4, 2026. (Anthony Nino de Guzman/AFP)
Fujimori’s win arrives at a time when the United States is working to reinforce partnerships with pro-market governments across Latin America, particularly as China expands its economic footprint in the region.
One of Beijing’s most prominent recent investments is the Chancay deepwater port in Peru, a $1.3 billion mega-project designed to serve as a major Chinese logistics hub along the Pacific coast.
Her hard-line approach to organized crime is also expected to dovetail with U.S. efforts to broaden regional security partnerships and strengthen cooperation against trafficking networks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on during a ceremony at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi on May 23, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AFP)
Fujimori was declared the winner Monday by Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the electoral authority responsible for reporting vote count results. The country’s final authority on election matters, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), has yet to issue its official proclamation, according to Reuters.
According to the ONPE, Fujimori secured 50.1% of the vote, winning by fewer than 50,000 votes out of roughly 18 million ballots cast.
Her victory over leftist challenger Roberto Sánchez marks her fourth presidential bid and makes her Peru’s first female president-elect.
The result caps a deeply divisive election cycle in a country that has gone through nine presidents in the past decade.
Fujimori is also the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who ruled the country during the 1990s.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waves outside his home in Santiago, Chile, on May 18, 2006. (Claudio Santana/AP Photo)
Fujimori’s presidency marks a return of her family’s political brand to Peru’s highest office — a movement that has long carried a complicated relationship with the United States.
While Washington once backed her father for his fight against communist guerrillas and economic reforms in the 1990s, the U.S. later condemned his government over the dismantling of democratic institutions and allegations of human rights abuses.
Keiko Fujimori has since spent more than two decades attempting to reshape “Fujimorismo” into a modern conservative, law-and-order political movement.
Peruvians voted in favor of Fujimori amid a surge in violent crime, extortion and years of political instability.
Fujimori campaigned on an “iron fist” approach to security and a pledge to protect Peru’s free-market economy, while her opponent focused on rural economic grievances.
