If you don't meet our demands, we will kill your drivers.
This message, demanding about $15,000, was sent by a criminal gang to a bus company in a poor suburb of Peru's capital, Lima. It preceded an armed attack on bus driver Toño, who was shot in the legs and abdomen.
My wounds are dry, but internally I feel pain, he says, describing how insecurity has affected his life and work as a bus driver in Lima's San Juan de Lurigancho suburb, known for being the city's worst district for extortion.
Toño's case is one of nearly 30,000 extortion incidents reported in Peru in 2025, many targeting small businesses or transport workers. Insecurity and crime are now top concerns for voters in Sunday's presidential election in Peru.
Fujimori vs Sánchez
The right-wing Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the late former president, Alberto Fujimori, is running for a fourth time against left-wing Roberto Sánchez. Fujimori has defined her campaign with an array of tough-on-crime policies, while Sánchez has promised sweeping changes to the state and higher public spending.
According to an independent observatory of crime and violence, 239 drivers were killed last year. I've never been so afraid to leave my young children. If I had money, I'd leave the country, Toño says.
Eiffel Calla, head of security at Toño's bus depot, says five drivers from their company have been attacked. One was killed, another was left in a vegetative state.
Economic Divide
Fears of insecurity have driven other Latin American nations further right in recent elections, boosting leaders who promise a hardline approach to law and order. Despite having churned through eight presidents in the last 10 years, Peru's economy has remained relatively stable. It is a major exporter of critical minerals and metals such as copper.
Fujimori's supporters pit her free market approach to the economy and pledge to attract more US investment against Sánchez's proposals to review mining contracts, increase some corporate taxes, raise the minimum wage and give the state more control over natural resources – ideas that have unsettled financial markets.
Youth Disillusionment
No party has a majority in Peru's congress, which has led to regular presidential impeachments, though Fujimori's party has the largest minority bloc. Many Peruvians are fatigued by this instability. Last year, Gen Z protests erupted, with young people arguing the state was failing to tackle crime, corruption and inequality.
Under-30s make up about a quarter of Peru's electorate, and many who protested feel neither candidate can deliver real change. Consuelo, 21, vice-president of the student federation of Peru's Pontifical Catholic University, cites political exhaustion with the political class.
She feels deciding between the final two options in Sunday's vote is like choosing the lesser evil. However, she is concerned about Fujimori's pledge to replicate some of her father's policies. To talk about Fujimorism is to talk about authoritarianism, and that is something that for many students represents an enormous fear.
With no majority party in congress and two candidates at very different ends of the political spectrum, many analysts think this is still a long way off. José Luis Pérez Guadalupe, interior minister from 2015-16 and professor at the Pacific University, says great polarisation means whoever wins, it's going to be difficult for them to implement their plans.
We've had eight presidents in 10 years, 24 justice ministers, 32 interior ministers. That's high volatility. It's no surprise then that many Peruvians share Consuelo's frustrated verdict: Whether Fujimori wins, or Sánchez wins, we know there will most likely be a lot of instability. In reality, it's a pretty hopeless choice.
