Milei attends Keiko Fujimori’s inauguration in Peru, holds bilateral meeting

Argentine President Javier Milei will attend Keiko Fujimori‘s inauguration as president of Peru at noon on Tuesday. Before the ceremony, the two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting. The trip marks Milei’s first international visit since triggering a diplomatic crisis with Brazil on Saturday after insulting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a visit to São Paulo in support of Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential nomination.

Milei departed Buenos Aires on Monday night and is scheduled to meet with Fujimori at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Argentina time, less than two hours before her inauguration ceremony, which is set to begin at 12:45 p.m. Fujimori joins a growing list of right-wing South American leaders backed by Milei, including Chile’s José Antonio Kast, Paraguay’s Santiago Peña, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Colombian president-elect Abelardo De La Espriella, who is set to take office on August 7.

In early July, after Fujimori’s victory was confirmed, Milei wrote in a post on X that he hoped a “new era” would begin between Argentina and Peru, “two sister nations that are once again joining each other on the path of freedom.” At the time, Milei said he and Fujimori had agreed during a phone call on “the need for more freedom, economic growth and the fight against transnational organized crime.” “Peru joins the group of countries in the region that have decided to stand firm against socialism and work together to defend freedom,” he wrote. In an earlier post, he said Peruvians had “rejected the communist downfall” represented by Fujimori’s rival, Roberto Sánchez, and declared “’never again’ to totalitarian socialism.” After the inauguration, Milei is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of San Martín de Porres and deliver an acceptance speech. Who is Keiko Fujimori Keiko Fujimori, leader of the Fuerza Popular party, is the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori.

Her administration could signal a return to the conservative, market-oriented policies associated with her father’s presidency, which lasted from 1990 to 2000. Alberto Fujimori spent his final years in prison after being convicted of human rights violations committed during his authoritarian government, including massacres and kidnappings. His daughter has consistently argued that he was wrongfully convicted.