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The tacit or implicit acknowledgments of the leftist Pedro Castillo as virtual president-elect of Peru increased today with an invitation to a meeting of regional governors.
The governor of the southern Andean region of Cusco, Jean-Paul Benavente, said that the rural teacher was invited to the IV Decentralization Summit to be held this week in the capital of Cusco.
He specified that the invitation is because Castillo reached first place in the total vote count completed by the National Office of Electoral Procedures (ONPE), a result that his rival Keiko Fujimori is trying to reverse with nullities and appeals.
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Peruvians Take to the Streets To Defend Pedro Castillo's Victory
He added that he was summoned to speak next Friday because "there is a result that tells us that there is a winner at one hundred percent of the ONPE count, and we governors are inviting that person," although Castillo has not confirmed his attendance.
The day before, on Thursday, President Francisco Sagasti will attend the meeting, and Ombudsman Wálter Gutiérrez revealed that the President and the other members of the Council of State, which includes the heads of the State powers, agreed not to coincide with the candidates in any activity to remain neutral.
Cientos de miles de peruanas/os de todas las regiones del país demostraron hoy que cuando el pueblo se une en defensa de su dignidad, con alegría y con firmeza, no hay mafia ni amenaza de golpe que pueda detenerlo. Ninguna maniobra torcerá su voluntad de cambio. #PalabraDeMaestro pic.twitter.com/06nVzRsJpp
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) June 20, 2021
"Hundreds of thousands of Peruvians from all regions of the country demonstrated today that when the people unite in defense of their dignity, with joy and firmness, there is no mafia or threat of a coup that can stop them. No maneuver will twist their will for change."
Castillo similarly attended yesterday a meeting of the National Council of Deans of the Professional Associations of Peru. He received expressions of sympathy as the virtual president-elect, further stating that these groups will participate in creating Peru's Ministry of Science and Technology.
Previously, former political rivals from the first electoral round, various institutions, journalists, and other personalities have recognized him as president, despite Fujimori's attempts to reverse the result, for which she has the support of right-wing civilian sectors and former military personnel.
Without mentioning Fujimori's claims, the Prime Minister, Violeta Bermudez, declared that the electoral runoff on June 6 was carried out normally, as confirmed by national and foreign observers, and asked for calm while waiting for the electoral justice system to resolve pending claims.
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