Peru presidential hopeful bloodied but safe after gun attack

Peruvian presidential hopeful Rafael Belaunde escaped bloodied but not seriously hurt Tuesday (December 2, 2025) from an attack by gunmen on his car south of the capital Lima, police said.

Gunmen on a motorbike fired several shots at the SUV the 50-year-old politician was driving.

Bullets shattered the front window, leaving Mr. Belaunde with blood stains on his face and shirt from cuts caused by broken glass, according to TV images.

In a statement on X, police said Mr. Belaunde was not badly injured in the attack in the town of Cerro Azul, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Lima.

“Shots were fired at the vehicle and at him,” police chief Oscar Arriola told reporters, adding Belaunde was driving the car himself. It was not clear if he was alone in the car.

Police had earlier said there was a driver, with Belaunde a passenger.

Pedro Cateriano, a member of Mr. Belaunde’s Libertad Popular (Popular Liberty) party told RPP radio that the targeted politician was “unharmed. The criminals did not achieve their goal.”

Mr. Belaunde, a former Energy Minister and grandson of two-term ex-President Fernando Belaunde, told police he had not received any threats.

‘A bad start’

The head of Peru’s electoral court, Roberto Burneo, condemned the attack and urged the government to boost security ahead of elections set for April 12 next year.

Mr. Belaunde is not among the early favourites in opinion polls that currently favour former Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga and Keiko Fujimori, daughter of late former President Alberto Fujimori.

Mr. Cateriano described the attack as “a bad start to the campaign” at a time Peru is gripped by a surge in graft and organised crime, giving rise to protests led by Gen Z demonstrators that have left dozens injured and at least one dead.

A wave of extortion has claimed dozens of lives, particularly of bus drivers, some shot at the wheel if their companies refuse to pay protection money.

Experts say the practice has taken off amid high levels of post-pandemic poverty and unemployment, political instability following the 2022 ouster of president Pedro Castillo, and the domestic rise of gangs such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.

Since the beginning of the year, 56 bus drivers have been killed, according to the public prosecutor’s office.

The unrest over crime triggered the impeachment of ex-president Dina Boluarte, who was replaced by Jose Jeri — Peru’s seventh president since 2017.

Former Interior Minister Gino Costa, a friend of Belaunde’s, called on X for the government to “provide guarantees to presidential candidates and stop electoral violence now.”