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Sunday, 27 June 2021 (YJC) _Thousands of Peruvians supporting socialist Pedro Castillo and right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori took to the streets on Saturday amid uncertainty over the result of a tight June 6 presidential election that has been held up by legal challenges.
Castillo supporters marched in downtown Lima toward Plaza San Martín, a block from the headquarters of the electoral jury that will decide the outcome, with giant banners and photos of the socialist candidate, calling for his apparent election win to be confirmed.
A few blocks away, thousands of others supporting Fujimori paraded with Peruvian flags and banners that read "no to fraud," arriving at the Plaza Bolognesi, where a stage had been erected ahead of the expected arrival of the conservative.
Castillo holds a slender 44,000-vote lead over Fujimori with all ballots counted. But his right-wing rival has sought to disqualify votes, largely in rural areas that backed the leftist, making claims of fraud with little evidence.
Castillo's Free Peru party has denied the allegations of fraud while international election observers have said the vote was carried out cleanly. The U.S. State Department described the process as a "model of democracy."
In Fujimori's march were members of various right and center-right parties, as well as retired military personnel who have backed her fraud claims. Many had banners saying "no to communism," a criticism they often aim at Castillo.
"We are not Chavistas, we are not communists, we are not going to take away property from anyone, that is false... we are democratic," Castillo told supporters on Saturday night. "The differences, the inequalities, are over."
Many of his followers wore the same wide-brimmed hats Castillo has used in the campaign. Some wore outfits from the country's Andean regions and danced, while others carried whips like those used by rural "ronderos," or civil police.
Fujimori told her supporters on Saturday evening that she simply wanted electoral justice. "What we want is for all these irregularities to be analyzed," she said.
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