Keiko Fujimori vows army crime role as Peru president

Keiko Fujimori took office as Peru's president on Tuesday and said the military would temporarily lead security operations in some areas during states of emergency as she pledged to confront crime.

Fujimori, 51, won June's runoff on her fourth presidential bid by fewer than 50,000 votes. Her inauguration makes her Peru's ninth president in a decade, and she is due to govern until 2031.

Addressing Congress, Fujimori announced plans to deploy the military in areas where crime, drug trafficking and illegal mining are widespread. She said the armed forces would lead security operations during states of emergency until those territories could be returned to citizens.

A group of leftist lawmakers left the room in protest during the inauguration. Latin American leaders including Argentina's Javier Milei, Chile's Jose Antonio Kast, Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa and Uruguay's Yamandu Orsi attended the ceremony.

Crime was a central issue in Fujimori's campaign. She has proposed expelling undocumented people, creating courts with anonymous judges and making prisoners work for their food.

Her campaign was also shaped by the divisive legacy of her father, Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru in the 1990s and was later jailed for corruption and crimes against humanity committed during what he considered a fight against terrorism. Some Peruvians fear a hardline security policy could bring abuses, while others say they hope she will improve public safety.

Fujimori has called for reconciliation between Peru's political camps, but relatives of victims of state violence rejected her incoming government at a vigil in Lima on Monday. More than 100 people gathered to demand justice for crimes committed under the last Fujimori administration.

Her Fuerza Popular party is the largest in Congress, but right-wing parties still fall short of the majority needed to pass the new president's initiatives without support. Fujimori has also vowed to prepare for the El Nino climate phenomenon, which meteorologists predict will be the most intense and devastating since 1998.