Peru鈥檚 presidential election this month ended in a razor-thin victory for a socialist candidate. But the result is being rejected by those opposed to him 鈥� including most Peruvian expats in South Florida, many of whom are showing up for protests like one Tuesday night in West Kendall.
Shouting 鈥淣o al fraude!鈥� 鈥� no to fraud 鈥� dozens of expats waving Peruvian flags insisted the victory of socialist Pedro Castillo in Peru鈥檚 June 6 presidential election is illegitimate.
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Castillo appears to have won by only 44,000 votes over right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. She is claiming vote fraud, and Peru鈥檚 National Jury of Elections is now examining ballots for evidence of allegations such as ghost votes and precinct ledger falsification in areas that favored Castillo.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to support democracy 鈥� to say this is a fraud and give us another election," said Peru native Lucy Brigman Caceres, a Miami insurance executive and one of the West Kendall protest organizers.
"And we want Americans to know that, to support us in that regard, internationally.鈥�
Brigman Caceres conceded the biggest concern for most expats here is Castillo鈥檚 left-wing, Leninist government platform. They fear he鈥檒l turn Peru into an authoritarian socialist regime like Venezuela鈥檚.
鈥淲e want to stop it now because when communism sets in a country, it will never leave," she said. "And then we鈥檙e done.鈥�
Peru鈥檚 high level of official corruption and economic inequality, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, helped make Castillo more popular, especially among the country鈥檚 rural voters.
