Supporters of socialist Pedro Castillo and right-wing Keiko Fujimori took to the streets by the thousands in Peru on Saturday, as tensions rose over the result of the June 6th presidential election.

Lima.- Castillo, who received 50.125 percent of the vote with a difference of 44,058 ballots, has declared himself the winner. Fujimori got 49.875 percent of the votes and has made claims of large-scale election fraud.

In Peru’s capital, Lima, supporters of Castillo gathered at the “2 de Mayo Plaza,” calling for the left-wing candidate to be formally announced as president-elect. Fujimori’s supporters also held a rival demonstration in a different part of the city demanding the annulment of the run-off election.

The National Elections Jury says it is still reviewing votes and is yet to declare a winner.

“We are not going to allow them to ignore the popular will, to ignore the electoral result. We are going to defend democracy,” said Veronika Mendoza, a former leftist presidential candidate who attended the rally for Castillo.

“Unfortunately, Mrs. “K” [Keiko Fujimori] is a corrupt woman who should not be president and should accept her defeat because what won here is the democracy, the fair vote of the people,” said Ruben, another pro-Castillo demonstrator.

International observers have said there is no evidence of fraud and that the election was clean.
Pollster Ipsos Peru also said it had done a statistical analysis of the ballots and found no evidence of abnormal voting patterns that would have benefited one candidate over the other. (RHC)