Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as president of Peru on July 28, 2026, becoming the country’s ninth head of state in a decade marked by resignations, removals and political turmoil. She narrowly defeated left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez in June’s runoff election, winning by fewer than 50,000 votes, according to reporting from the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, France 24 and NPR.

Fujimori, 51, is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity and served 16 years in prison before receiving a pardon in December 2023. He died in September 2024. Keiko Fujimori had run for president three times before finally winning on her fourth attempt.

An extractive agenda takes shape

According to Mongabay, Fujimori has signaled plans to expand fossil fuel production and mining across Peru, alongside new roads, railways and ports intended to support extractive and industrial projects. Her government has also pledged a more forceful, militarized response to crime, amid what officials describe as the country’s worst security crisis in decades, driven largely by extortion rackets.

Fujimori’s Popular Force party, together with its main ally Popular Renovation, holds roughly half the seats in Peru’s Senate. That reduces the likelihood that opposition lawmakers could remove her from office, a scenario that has ended the tenure of several recent Peruvian presidents.

Indigenous leaders voice unease

Legal experts, environmentalists and Indigenous leaders interviewed by Mongabay say Fujimori’s plans could set back environmental protections in Peru, worsening deforestation and pollution while threatening Indigenous rights and the country’s energy transition commitments. Few concrete environmental policy changes have taken effect during her first month in office, but concern centers on the direction her administration appears to be heading.

The current government is a bit pragmatic in its decisions because they are really driven by wanting development without considering the consequences for the Amazonian peoples.

The quote comes from Leo Chuma Teca Beso, a Matsés Indigenous leader, who told Mongabay he sees the new administration’s priorities as focused narrowly on extraction rather than the communities living on the land in question.

They only want development projects, to take the natural resources that give them wealth, which are inherent to the Indigenous communities, originate directly from Indigenous people.

At her inauguration before Congress in Lima, Fujimori swore to “faithfully carry out the duties of president of the republic,” according to Al Jazeera. With her governing coalition holding significant power in the Senate, and with less than a decade of Peruvian presidents having completed full terms, the durability and direction of her environmental policy will likely become clearer as her administration moves beyond its first weeks.

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