Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as president of Peru on July 28, a tilt that came after she won the presidential election by less than 50,000 votes. At 51, she became the first woman elected by popular vote to lead the country, and she opened her first day in office promising a "safe, prosperous, and united" Peru.
She took the oath at noon at the Congress of the Republic, then moved into a government built on a razor-thin mandate. The margin over Roberto Sánchez was small enough to leave no room for a broad victory claim, even as the transfer of power handed her the formal authority to begin a new administration immediately.
Congress of the Republic
The inauguration marked the return of Fujimorism to power after almost 30 years. That return comes after a long stretch of instability: since 2016, Peru has had nine presidents, and most of them governed either on an interim basis or amid political crises.
Keiko Fujimori also enters office with a cabinet already taking shape. She had confirmed Luis Galarreta as President of the Council of Ministers, Elmer Cuba as Minister of Economy and Finance, and Carlos Espá as Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the cabinet scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday. That lineup will show whether power stays concentrated around her inner circle or spreads more widely across the government.
Cathedral Basilica of Lima
The day also included the traditional Te Deum at the Cathedral Basilica of Lima, where Cardinal Carlos Castillo denounced politicians who "use religion for partisan gain and to win votes." He also urged them: "Let us abandon the pettiness of thinking only of our own individual advancement and that of the group to which we belong, and instead seek the common good of all."
Before the inauguration, Fujimori wrote to her father on Tuesday morning: "Dad, today Peru remembers you, and millions carry you in their hearts. I know you’re with me on this very important day." The note tied her personal return to office to the legacy of Alberto Fujimori, who resigned via fax from Japan 26 years earlier, and whose name still divides Peru after his conviction for crimes against humanity and corruption and his death as a free man in 2024.
For Peruvians, the immediate change is not just a new president but a government that starts under pressure to prove it can outlast the cycle that brought nine presidents in less than a decade. The cabinet swearing-in on Tuesday is the first test of how broad that authority will be, and whether the promise of a "safe, prosperous, and united" Peru turns into a governing line or stays a slogan.
