New President Declares National Emergency, Deploys Military

Keiko Fujimori has been officially sworn in as Peru’s first female elected president, becoming the latest conservative leader to take power in Latin America. During her inauguration ceremony in Lima on Tuesday, the 51-year-old announced a state of emergency, stating the military will temporarily lead security operations in crime-stricken areas until order is restored. In her first speech as president, Fujimori said she was inheriting a country in a ‘catastrophic’ condition but stressed that the nation has unlimited potential. ‘During the state of emergency, the armed forces will temporarily take over the leadership of security operations,’ she stated. Fujimori defeated left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez in a tightly contested run-off election in June, marking her fourth attempt to win the presidency. Her campaign focused heavily on a crackdown against rising crime, and she announced that the military would, in certain situations, take over the task of maintaining order in high-crime areas. Peru is currently facing its worst security crisis in decades, driven by the growth of local and foreign criminal groups involved in contract killings and extortion. The declaration is reminiscent of the military’s role during the government of her father, who passed away in 2024. Fujimori also pledged to protect the public from the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon and to raise the minimum wage, highlighting Peru’s economic inequality as one of the highest in Latin America. She becomes Peru’s tenth president in a decade, a period marked by political turmoil in which no leader has managed to complete a full five-year term. The inauguration in Lima was attended by foreign officials, including right-wing leaders from Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile.