--- title: Keiko Fujimori slug: keiko-fujimori-fcee3 url: /detay/keiko-fujimori-fcee3 type: biography language: English entity: primary: Keiko Fujimori type: biography categories: - name: Politics And International Relations slug: siyaset-ve-uluslararasi-iliskiler url: /kategori/siyaset-ve-uluslararasi-iliskiler tags: - Women Entrepreneurship - National Assembly - Election System - Women Leaders - Election Process - Political Biography - Peru Congress - Female Politician - Parliament - Human resources - Member of Parliament - political history - Political Career - Presidency - South America - politics - Latin America - election results - politician - Peru - International relations - Lima author: Edanur Karakoç created_at: 2026-07-03T16:47:25.251644+03:00 updated_at: 2026-07-03T16:47:25.251654+03:00 image: https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2026/07/03/aN8EWJ1fs9lE1H4aILQCbdHBHYas1eso.jpg --- # Keiko Fujimori > Keiko Fujimori is a Peruvian politician who founded and serves as the general president of the Fuerza Popular party in Türkiye and was elected president of the country by winning the 2026 elections. ## KURE Information Cards ![](https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2026/07/03/tqj0RK5BBq6ws8RmYec084m1A5vRBKm4.jpg) *Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi* | Field | Value | |-------|-------| | Date of Birth | 1975-06-25 | | Place of Birth | Lima, Peru | | Party | Fuerza Popular (Founder and General President) | | Education | Boston University (Business), Columbia University (MBA) | | Father | Alberto Fujimori | | Mother | Susana Higuchi | ## Article Content **Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi** (born 25 May 1975 in Lima, Peru) is a Peruvian politician and businesswoman. Fujimori, the founder and president of the **Fuerza Popular** party, has run for the presidency of the Republic of Peru four times—in 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2026—reaching the second round in all four elections. 【1】 She is the eldest of four children of **Alberto Fujimori**, who served as President of Peru from 1990 to 2000, and **Susana Higuchi**, a congresswoman. 【2】 At the age of 19, between 1994 and 2000, she was appointed by her father as Peru’s first lady. 【3】 She served in Congress from 2006 to 2011 and founded the **Fuerza Popular** party in 2009. 【4】 In the second round of elections held on [7 June 2026](/en/detay/peru-2026-devlet-baskanligi-secimi-55e41/llms.txt), she defeated her rival Roberto Sánchez with 50.13 percent of the vote. ![Image](https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2026/07/03/eD24U9z1ET6taYv5M2qUzRc3wqIaxWI3.jpg) *Keiko Fujimori Higuchi - (Anadolu Ajansı)* ### **Early Life** [Keiko Fujimori](/en/detay/keiko-fujimori-f615d/llms.txt) was born as the eldest child of Peruvian President (1990–2000) **Alberto Fujimori** and congresswoman (2000–2006) **Susana Higuchi**. 【5】 She completed her schooling at Colegio Sagrados Corazones Recoleta, a private institution affiliated with the congregation in Lima, alongside her siblings Hiro Alberto, Sachi Marcela, and Kenji Gerardo. After her father won the 1990 presidential election under the Cambio 90 party, and following his 1992 autogolpe, Keiko completed high school in 1992. 【6】 In 1993 she moved to the United States to begin her business studies at Stony Brook, State University of New York (SUNYSB). 【7】 In August 1994, Susana Higuchi accused her husband’s government of corruption, labeled Alberto Fujimori a “tyrant,” claimed she was imprisoned in the Government Palace, subjected to physical and psychological abuse, and prevented from seeing her children. 【8】 Alberto Fujimori denounced his wife as “disloyal” and “unstable,” removed her from her position as head of the Peruvian Children’s Foundation and as first lady, and transferred both roles to his daughter Keiko. 【9】 On **23 August 1994, at age 19, Keiko Fujimori assumed the role of Peru’s first lady**. 【10】 Her first official international appearance as first lady was at the First Summit of the Americas in Miami in December 1994. 【11】 In March 1996 she became president of the Peruvian Cardioinfantil Foundation, raising funds for surgical treatment of children with heart conditions. The foundation was established to provide support and resources for poor children in rural areas to receive life-saving heart surgeries in modern hospitals in Lima and other urban centers. She represented Peru at the Conference of First Ladies, Spouses, and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas in Santiago de Chile in September 1998 and in Ottawa in October 1999, and at the Regional Childhood Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean in Cartagena de Indias in March 1998. 【12】 ### **Education** In 1997, following her parents’ divorce, Keiko Fujimori completed her business studies at Boston University. In 2002, seeking to expand her education for a career in business, she moved to New York and began graduate studies at Columbia University. She earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University in 2008. 【13】 ### **Years in the United States and Marriage** Keiko Fujimori married American-Italian businessman **Mark Vito Villanella** (born 1976) in a Catholic ceremony on **3 July 2004** in Lima’s Miraflores district, officiated by Lima’s Archbishop and Primate of Peru, Cardinal **Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne**. At the ceremony, her mother Susana Higuchi served as maid of honor and her brother Hiro as best man. The couple’s first daughter, **Kyara Sofía, was born in 2007, and their second daughter, Kaori Marcela, in 2009**. 【14】 After their marriage, the couple returned to New York. Villanella later acquired Peruvian citizenship and became the owner of a real estate company. Following Fujimori’s arrest in October 2018, Mark Vito Villanella undertook a 12-day hunger strike outside the Chorrillos Women’s Prison and was hospitalized during this period. On **21 June 2022, Keiko Fujimori announced via her social media accounts that she had separated from Mark Vito Villanella after 18 years of marriage**. ### **Congress and Alianza por el Futuro (2005–2009)** On 6 November 2005, **Alberto Fujimori**, while in exile in Japan, traveled to Santiago de Chile where he was arrested by Interpol agents. On 11 November 2005, the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) ruled that Fujimori could not run for president due to his prior removal from Congress. On 8 December 2005, the JNE rejected the registration of the electoral alliance Alianza Sí Cumple, founded by Alberto Fujimori on 21 October. In response, on 10 December, the Cambio 90 and Nueva Mayoría parties formed the **Alianza por el Futuro (AF) alliance**; to secure its official registration with the JNE, they designated **then-30-year-old Keiko Fujimori as its nominal president**. On 6 January 2006, Alianza por el Futuro was officially registered by the Registro de Organizaciones Políticas (ROP). After the JNE rejected the registration of her father’s candidacy under the Sí Cumple party banner four days later, the alliance nominated Martha Chávez as its presidential candidate while **Keiko Fujimori led the congressional list**. On 9 April 2006, Keiko Fujimori was elected to Congress in Lima with **603,000 votes**, the highest number ever received by a congressional candidate in Peruvian history up to that point. 【15】 During this period, Fujimori opposed the government of Alan García and voted against his policies. While serving in Congress, she chaired the commissions on Women and Social Development, Economy-Banking-Finance and Financial Intelligence, Foreign Trade and Tourism, Budget and General Accounts of the Republic, and Housing and Construction. 【16】 In September 2007, Chile extradited **Alberto Fujimori** to Peru on seven of thirteen charges in his case (five for corruption, two for human rights violations). **During this period, Keiko Fujimori organized demonstrations in support of her father**. In December 2007, the first conviction against her father was announced: he was sentenced to six years in prison for abuse of power during a raid at Montesinos’s residence. Fujimori stated she was “very angry” and claimed Peru’s judiciary no longer inspired “confidence.” In 2009, Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to **25 years in prison** for the 1991 Barrios Altos and 1992 La Cantuta massacres, in which 25 people were killed. The Supreme Court determined that the direct perpetrators were the paramilitary Grupo Colina, but that the “indirect perpetrator” was the sitting president. 【17】 ### **Foundation of Fuerza 2011 and 2011 Presidential Candidacy** On 13 January 2008, Keiko Fujimori announced the creation of the Fuerza 2011 party; **the party was officially founded on 22 July 2009**. The party adopted an orange color and a white “K” as its symbol. On 9 March 2010, the ROP accepted the registration of Fuerza 2011, which had collected over one million signatures—854,000 more than the required 146,000. 【18】 On 7 December 2010, the 35-year-old Keiko Fujimori formally launched her candidacy at a rally in Huaycán, a poor neighborhood of Lima. Rafael Rey Rey and Jaime Yoshiyama were named as first and second vice-presidential candidates respectively. ![Image](https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2026/07/03/5veXivUwqRniZKm2PpTEVrcnS4LhEYT9.jpg) *Keiko Fujimori Higuchi - (Anadolu Ajansı)* Fujimori’s 2011–2016 Government Plan focused on citizen security, quality job creation, and poverty reduction. During her campaign, she advocated for stricter amendments to the Penal Code, including the death penalty for those convicted of sexual assault against minors under 18 and for perpetrators of violent robberies resulting in death. In the first round of elections on 10 April 2011, Ollanta Humala received 31.7 percent of the vote, placing first, while Keiko Fujimori came second with 23.5 percent, qualifying for the second round. In this election, Fuerza 2011 rose to become the second-largest parliamentary group by winning 37 seats in Congress; one of these seats belonged to Fujimori’s brother Kenji Gerardo, who was elected in Lima with a high vote share. In the second round on 5 June 2011, Ollanta Humala received 51.449 percent of the vote and Keiko Fujimori received 48.551 percent. 【19】 ### **Fuerza Popular and 2016 Presidential Candidacy** On 29 July 2012, **Fuerza 2011 changed its name to Fuerza Popular (FP)**. In October 2012, Keiko Fujimori and her siblings petitioned the Ministry of Justice for a humanitarian pardon for their father; this request was denied by then-President Ollanta Humala in June 2013. In January 2015, Alberto Fujimori received his fifth conviction—for using National Intelligence Service (SIN) public funds in 2000 to purchase editorial space in newspapers—and was sentenced to eight years in prison, bringing his total sentence to 52 years. In the same month, **Fuerza Popular became the largest parliamentary group in Congress with 35 seats**. On 10 January 2016, Fujimori registered her candidacy with the Lima Central Special Electoral Board and presented her government program, *Plan Perú*. The first and second vice-presidential candidates were former Minister of Agriculture José Chlimper Ackerman and former governor of Junín Vladimiro Huaroc Portocarrero. Under Plan Perú, Fujimori acknowledged that crimes had been committed during her father’s presidency and that he had committed a “serious political error” by allowing them to occur; she pledged that if elected president, she would not grant him a pardon. She expressed support for state compensation to women who were victims of forced sterilization campaigns in the 1990s and committed to deepening the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR). In the first round of elections on 10 April 2016, Fujimori placed first with 39.86 percent of the vote, while her rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski received 21.05 percent. In the same elections, Fuerza Popular won 73 seats in Congress, securing an absolute majority. During the second phase of the campaign, an allegation surfaced on the U.S.-based Univisión channel claiming Fujimori had received $15 million in cash from the construction company Odebrecht for her 2011 presidential campaign; however, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) refuted this claim. In the second round on 5 June 2016, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski received 50.120 percent of the vote and Keiko Fujimori received 49.880 percent—a difference of 41,057 votes. 【20】 ### **The Kenjivideos Scandal and Kuczynski’s Resignation (2017–2018)** In December 2017, it was revealed that a company owned by then-President Kuczynski was among those implicated in Odebrecht’s international bribery network. Fujimori and other opposition leaders called for Kuczynski’s resignation on grounds of “continuous moral incapacity.” On 21 December 2017, the impeachment vote failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority (87 votes); only 79 voted in favor. In this vote, **the opposition group led by Keiko Fujimori’s brother Kenji Fujimori abstained**. On 24 December 2017, **Kuczynski** granted a humanitarian pardon to Alberto Fujimori; this decision triggered major political and social backlash. **Keiko Fujimori opposed the pardon and initiated expulsion proceedings against her brother Kenji Fujimori and other opposition congressmen**; these members formed a group called *Los Vengadores* in January 2018. On 20 March 2018, Fuerza Popular released video recordings showing Kenji Fujimori and two allied congressmen negotiating financial benefits for the Puno region in exchange for voting in favor of the government during a second impeachment vote scheduled for 22 March. These recordings became known as the “Kenjivideos.” On 21 March 2018, Kuczynski submitted his resignation letter to Congress; his resignation was accepted on 23 March, and the then-vice president, **Martín Vizcarra Cornejo**, was sworn in as president. ### **Corruption Investigations and Arrests (2018–2020)** **On 10 October 2018, Fujimori** was taken into custody for 10 days upon appearing before the court overseeing the preparatory investigation, following a request by prosecutor José Domingo Pérez Gómez. The investigation centered on an alleged $1.2 million in undeclared donations received from Odebrecht for her 2011 presidential campaign. Fujimori labeled the arrest a “baseless political prosecution.” Released on 18 October 2018 after her appeal was accepted, she was rearrested on **31 October 2018** by judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho on grounds of flight risk and placed under 36-month pre-trial detention at Chorrillos Women’s Prison. In September 2019, the Supreme Court reduced her detention period from 36 to 18 months. On 25 November 2019, the Constitutional Court accepted a habeas corpus petition filed on her behalf by her sister Sachi and declared the detention order null and void; this ruling was implemented on 29 November, and Fujimori was released. On 28 January 2020, judge Víctor Zúñiga Urday ordered her rearrest under pre-trial detention on charges of money laundering linked to Odebrecht; Fujimori returned to Chorrillos. On 30 April 2020, the National Specialized Court for Organized Crime Appeals overturned the detention order, and on 5 May 2020, Fujimori was released on a $20,000 bond. 【21】 ### **2021 Presidential Candidacy** In the first round of elections on 11 April 2021, Fujimori placed second with 13.4 percent of the vote, behind provisional winner Pedro Castillo (18.9 percent), qualifying for the second round. Her campaign platform, titled *Plan de Rescate y Reconstrucción Nacional*, was built on two strategic pillars: economic recovery and job creation, and combating the pandemic. In the second round on 6 June 2021, Pedro Castillo won with 50.1 percent of the vote. Fujimori contested the results, alleging fraud, filed hundreds of appeals for vote annulment, and organized protests. After the JNE rejected all appeals and officially declared Castillo president, Fujimori announced on 19 July 2021 that she would accept the election outcome. 【22】 ### **Criminal Cases and Dismissal of the Cócteles Case (2022–2025)** In December 2022, Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress, call for a constituent assembly, and rule by decree. Congress removed him the same month on grounds of “continuous moral incapacity”; Fuerza Popular voted in favor of his removal. Fujimori supported Castillo’s successor Dina Boluarte for nearly three years until October 2025. She also fully backed Boluarte’s successor José Jerí, who was removed from office in February 2026; he was succeeded by **José María Balcázar, who assumed the presidency for a five-month interim term**. During this period, Fujimori faced criminal proceedings for aggravated money laundering, membership in a criminal organization, obstruction of justice, false declarations in administrative procedures, and general fraud. On 1 July 2024, the National Criminal Court’s Third Criminal Chamber opened oral proceedings in the case known as Caso Cócteles. On 2 October 2025, the Constitutional Court accepted a habeas corpus petition and annulled all prosecutorial and judicial proceedings in this case since 2017, citing violation of the principle of legality (the crime of illicit enrichment could not be applied retroactively). The National Criminal Appeals Chamber Second Division rejected the prosecution’s request to reopen the investigation and confirmed the closure of the organized crime and money laundering case; the case was definitively closed. While Fujimori was acquitted in the Cócteles case, proceedings related to false declarations and general fraud in administrative procedures remained open. On 14 July 2024, Keiko Fujimori announced that her father, Alberto Fujimori, who had been definitively released in December 2023 following a Constitutional Court ruling, would run as the **Fuerza Popular candidate in the 2026 presidential election**, despite legal restrictions. The former president died two months later at age 86. On **30 October 2025, Keiko Fujimori announced her fourth candidacy for president**. On 16 December 2025, Fuerza Popular officially registered Keiko Fujimori’s candidacy with the JNE. ### **Fourth Presidential Candidacy and the 2026 Election** [In the first round of elections on 12 April 2026](/en/detay/2026-peru-genel-secimleri-ca120/llms.txt), Fujimori placed first with 17.2 percent of the vote, five percentage points ahead of left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez. The vote count by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) and official announcement by the JNE were delayed by over a month due to allegations of logistical failures and irregularities, concluding on 14 May; during this period, the Police Anti-Corruption Directorate and prosecutors became involved. In the concurrent elections for the new bicameral Congress, Fuerza Popular regained its position as the leading parliamentary force with 41 deputies and 22 senators, achieving a simple majority; Sánchez’s party and the alliance of former President Pedro Castillo, Juntos por el Perú, fell behind. [In the second round of elections on 7 June 2026](/en/detay/peru-2026-devlet-baskanligi-secimi-55e41/llms.txt), Keiko Fujimori, who received the majority of votes in Lima, Trujillo, Callao, other urban areas, and among Peruvians abroad, obtained **50.13 percent of the vote according to ONPE data reporting 100 percent of votes counted**. Her rival Roberto Sánchez, who received more votes in rural constituencies of the coast, sierra, and Amazon regions and in cities such as Arequipa, Cusco, and Huancayo, received 49.86 percent. The difference was 49,641 votes. With this result, Fujimori secured her status as president-elect, but the JNE’s official proclamation and delivery of credentials were postponed pending resolution of electoral challenges raised by Sánchez regarding ballot and vote irregularities. The date for assuming the presidency has been set as **28 July 2026**. ## Academic Sources and References 1. Al Jazeera. "From First Lady to Peru's President? Inside Keiko Fujimori's Rise." June 6, 2026. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2026/6/6/from-first-lady-to-president-inside-the-rise-of-perus-keiko-fujimori 2. CNN en Español. "Keiko Fujimori, la Candidata que por Cuarta Vez Compite en Segunda Vuelta y Promete ‘Orden’ en Perú." June 7, 2026. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2026/06/07/latinoamerica/peru-keiko-fujimori-candidata-derecha-elecciones-quien-es-orix 3. Infobae. "Keiko Fujimori y Mark Vito Villanella: Su Historia, Polémicas y una Obsesión por el Poder que Terminó por Separarlos." June 21, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://www.infobae.com/america/peru/2022/06/21/keiko-fujimori-y-mark-vito-villanella-su-historia-polemicas-y-una-obsesion-por-el-poder-que-termino-por-separarlos/ 4. Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. "Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi." \*Voto Informado\*. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://votoinformadoia.jne.gob.pe/hoja-vida/fujimori. 5. Ortiz de Zárate, Roberto. "Keiko Fujimori Higuchi." CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). Accessed July 3, 2026. https://www.cidob.org/lider-politico/keiko-fujimori-higuchi 6. Peru Reports. "Keiko Fujimori." Accessed July 3, 2026. https://www.perureports.com/keiko-fujimori/ 7. The Washington Post. "Fujimori Elected President of Peru, as Latin America Shifts Rightward." July 2, 2026. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/02/fujimori-elected-president-peru-latin-american-shifts-rightward/