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EXPERT COMMENT

The Keiko-Sánchez contest in this Sunday’s runoff election could tip the country into a deeper crisis.

It’s commonly noted that Peru has had eight presidents in the past 10 years. That neat data point, though, obscures the political and structural reasons behind the constant upheaval. And it raises another remarkable fact: despite continuing political turmoil, Peru’s economy has grown at an average 5.5 per cent between 2002 and 2022 (excluding the 10 per cent contraction during the COVID 19 pandemic).  

This year’s 7 June second-round elections between conservative, perennial also-ran candidate Keiko Fujimori and outsider leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez may well mark the moment that the balance between political crisis and economic growth finally breaks.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.