Peruvian candidates start runoff election campaign

The winners of last weekend's general elections in Peru begin campaigning this Friday for the presidential runoff in June.

Leader of the Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) party Keiko Fujimori called on her opponent Pedro Castillo to stop dividing citizens and to make known his proposals for the second round of the 2021 elections.

For his part, Castillo, presidential candidate for the Peru Free political party, has called for non-aggression and invited Fujimori to "shake hands" if they coincide in their campaign.

The country's elections have come at the worst moment of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 54,000 people and infected more than 1.6 million.

If elected Keiko Fujimori could become Peru's first female president in two hundred years since the country proclaimed its independence from Spain in 1821.

Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, aspires to govern with an "iron fist", in reference to the decade-long rule of her father 1990-2000, who is in prison after being sentenced to 25 years in jail for corruption and the murder of 25 Peruvians.

She has promised to free him if she comes to power.

Castillo proposes to elaborate a new constitution to replace the last, established in 1993, to expel foreign criminals and welcome those who come to work and study.

He promises to nationalize mining, oil and energy deposits, announcements which could alarm investors.

Although Castillo is a leftist, he also has conservative positions: he is against the gender approach in the school curriculum, opposes abortion and equal marriage.

The run-off election will be held on Sunday, June 6, 2021.