LIMA: The race for second place in the first round of Peru’s presidential election on Sunday was still wide open, with polls split over who would earn the chance to face long-time front-runner Keiko Fujimori in an expected run-off.
Peru’s stock market closed 4 percent higher after Wall Street favorite Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was seen in second place with 20.8 percent of valid votes, ahead of leftist Veronika Mendoza with 16.5 percent, according to a survey by GfK.
Polls by Ipsos and Datum showed the two second place contestants within one point of each other, though Mendoza’s momentum appears to have slowed.
“Veronika hasn’t increased voters so much in recent days. She rose a lot since March but less recently,” Urpi Torrado, of pollster Datum, told foreign reporters at a news conference.
Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, was still seen about 10 points short of the 50 percent of votes needed to win outright. Her support has slipped since tens of thousands protested against her on Tuesday.
A Fujimori-Kuczynski run-off in June would likely ensure Peru’s free-market model of the last quarter century prevails in the top metals producer, no matter the winner.
Mendoza’s surprise surge in recent weeks has spooked markets as she has swept up scores of undecided voters with promises of radically transforming the country’s mining-dependent economy.
Kuczynski, a 77-year-old son of European immigrants who had struggled to gain traction with poor rural voters in the last election, has ramped up efforts to portray Mendoza as a threat to Peru’s long stretch of economic growth.
A video called “24 Hours to Save Peru” launched on YouTube urged voters to rally behind Kuczynski to avoid a “disastrous second round” that would force Peruvians to choose between Fujimori and “a communist model that would destroy Peru.”
Mendoza’s supporters on social media dismissed the attack as desperate fear mongering.
Mendoza, dressed in red, chose Lima’s historic May 2 Plaza to end her campaign, praising the history of union and human rights protests that had taken place there.
“We aren’t here to make adjustments, patches, or to apply makeup, we want a real transformation,” she told supporters in a possible jab at outgoing President Ollanta Humala, a former leftist who governed more moderately than expected.
Mendoza would like Peru to become less reliant on mining and wants to curb exports of oil and natural gas to prioritize domestic demand.
Race for run-off spot heats up ahead of Peru election
Race for run-off spot heats up ahead of Peru election
Danish Supreme Court case opens on arms sales to Israel
Denmark’s Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by four humanitarian organizations that accuse the country of violating international law by exporting weapons to Israel.
In April 2025, a lower court rejected the lawsuit, filed against the Danish foreign ministry and national police by the Palestinian human rights association Al-Haq, ActionAid Denmark, and the Danish branches of Amnesty International and Oxfam.
The organizations allege Denmark is violating its international commitments by selling Israel parts for F-35 jet fighters, given what an Amnesty official called Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
The Supreme Court will solely address the question of whether the organizations are entitled to test the legality of Denmark’s arms sales in the courts.
The Eastern High Court found, in an April 2025 ruling seen by AFP, that the plaintiffs “cannot be considered to be affected in such a direct, individual and concrete manner that they meet the general conditions of Danish law regarding their right to bring proceedings.”
If the four win their case before the Supreme Court, they intend to move forward and contest the legality of Denmark’s arms sales to Israel.
“Amnesty International’s documentation shows that Israel is committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza,” Dina Hashem, an Amnesty official in Denmark, told AFP.
“Under the UN arms trade treaty and the UN common position on arms exports, states must deny an export license if there is a clear, overriding risk that this equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law,” she said.
“And that risk is clearly present in Gaza.”
‘In accordance’
In April, the Danish foreign ministry told AFP the Scandinavian country’s position on export control, including the F-35 program, was “in accordance with applicable EU and international law obligations.”
The Danish lawsuit was filed in March 2024 on the heels of a similar suit filed in the Netherlands by a coalition of humanitarian organizations.
A Dutch court in December 2024 rejected demands by pro-Palestinian groups for a total ban on exporting goods to Israel that can be used for military means.
The court ruled the government was respecting rules governing the country’s arms trade.
In Gaza, Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating a fragile ceasefire that came into force on October 10, 2025 after two years of war.
At least 618 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, a figure the UN has deemed reliable.
According to the Israeli army, five of its soldiers have been killed.
Given the restrictions imposed on media in Gaza, AFP is not able to independently verify the tolls provided by the two sides.
Denmark’s Supreme Court is due to announce its ruling in about a week.
