- Title: Peru’s presidential candidates toughen stance in debate ahead of April election
- Date: 24th March 2026
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (MARCH 23, 2026) (REUTERS)(NIGHT SHOTS) POLITICAL SUPPORTERS WITH PORK HEAD OUTSIDE LIMA CONVENTION CENTER ROBOT WEARING A POLITICAL PARTY POLO SHIRT CLAPPING SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DANCING WITH HUMANOID ROBOT LIMA, PERU (MARCH 23, 2026) (REUTERS) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SHAKING HANDS AND POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPH CANDIDATES POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Debate Elections Peru Presidential race
- Location: LIMA, PERU
- City: LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001694224032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Eleven Peruvian presidential candidates clashed over how to tackle the country's surging crime wave during the first of a series of televised debates on Monday (March 23), weeks before an April 12 election that has drawn a record 36 candidates.
Far-right candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who polls near the top of the field, pledged to expel illegal foreigners before July 28, withdraw Peru from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to allow the death penalty, and reduce the number of government ministries from 18 to six. He has said he would use military courts for civilian prosecutions and deploy troops to the nation's borders. The use of faceless judges and military courts was employed in the 1990s to prosecute members of the Shining Path rebel group and the MRTA during the government of the late former president Alberto Fujimori.
Comedian and television presenter Carlos Alvarez also called for Peru to withdraw from the Pact of San Jose — the American Convention on Human Rights — in order to apply the death penalty to hitmen caught in the act.
Left-leaning candidate Alfonso Lopez-Chau, a former central bank director, proposed repealing what several candidates called "pro-crime" laws passed by Congress, overhauling the national police, and targeting the financial networks of criminal organizations. Lopez-Chau, of the left-of-center Now Nation party, is a former central bank director currently under investigation for alleged corruption during his time as president of the National University of Engineering.
The political instability, which has already brought Peru nine presidents in 10 years, as well as a rise in violent crime, are top of mind for voters as the April general elections near, with the country's homicide rate having doubled since 2019.
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