Pedro Castillo waves to supporters after election authorities declared him president-elect during celebrations at his party's campaign headquarters in Lima, Peru, Monday, July 19, 2021.
Castillo was declared president more than a month after elections took place and after opponent Keiko Fujimori claimed that the election was tainted by fraud.
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Rural teacher-turned-political novice Pedro Castillo on Monday became the winner of Peru’s presidential election after the country’s longest electoral count in 40 years.
Castillo, whose supporters included Peru’s poor and rural citizens, defeated right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori by just 44,000 votes.
Wielding a pencil the size of a cane, symbol of his Peru Libre party, Castillo popularized the phrase “No more poor in a rich country.” »