Pedro Castillo, a left-wing rural teacher-turned-politician, was declared the winner of Peru’s presidential election. The South American nation, rich in copper reserves, has in recent years been mired in intense political turmoil, changing four presidents and two parliaments in five years.
Mr. Castillo defeated right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori by just 44,000 votes. Electoral authorities released the final official results on July 19, 2021 more than a month after the runoff election took place in the South American nation.
The economy of Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, has been crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, increasing the poverty level to almost one-third of the population and eliminating the gains of a decade.
Mr. Castillo has promised to use the revenues from the mining sector to improve public services, including education and health, whose inadequacies were highlighted by the pandemic.
