Roberto Sánchez, a left-wing congressman and former minister, campaigned wearing a giant straw hat — one that was not his own.
It once belonged to imprisoned former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, who won the 2021 election over Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, who Sanchez will also face in Sunday’s runoff.
The hat, along with Castillo, has become a symbol of the grassroots political movement Sanchez is likely to continue if he wins the highly polarizing election — even as he attempts to soften some of its more radical aspects.
Sanchez was born in Hualar, a coastal province north of Lima, to a hairdresser father and a maid mother. Sanchez shined shoes from the age of 7 to 13. He later graduated from the University of San Marcos with a degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social policy.
He has built his entire career in the public sector, including as a congressman, commerce minister under Castillo and, since 2017, as party president of Juntos por el Perú.
CastilianismThe political movement named after Castillo has its roots in rural land reform, anti-elitism and left-wing populism. Some analysts believe that the movement persists due to the country’s social and economic realities, despite the imprisonment of its leaders for trying to dissolve Congress in 2022.
Economist and former Health Minister (2007-2008) Hernán Garrido Lecca said: “The vote for Castillo and Sánchez does have a real fundamental basis. I wouldn’t describe it as a protest vote, but a vote born of desperation and abandonment. It was a vote of the abject poor of Peru.” report from peru.
According to the Peruvian National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI), by 2025, 4.7% of Peru’s population (approximately 1.6 million people) will live in extreme poverty and cannot even afford a basic food basket.
Poverty exists primarily in rural communities in the Andes and Amazon regions, which are largely disconnected from the economic and political center of the capital, Lima.
“Castillo was not targeting Castillo as a person but what he stood for – a protest against centralization and the abandonment of areas in Lima,” said Peruvian journalist Catherine Lanseros. report from peru.
Unlike Castillo, Sanchez has sought to present himself as a more institutional and pragmatic left-wing candidate.
He was better educated, more articulate, and an experienced politician. He made that distinction clear during last week’s debate, attacking Fujimori and his party People Power for the role they have played in the country’s political instability in recent years.
In an effort to appease moderates wary of his left-wing policies, Sanchez presented a 114-page government plan in the final days of the campaign promising macroeconomic stability, respect for central bank autonomy and the continuity of free trade agreements.
For many Peruvians, whether this represents true moderation or a last-minute political maneuver remains a decisive question.
As Lanceros said: “No matter how many times Sanchez rewrites the government’s proposals, he cannot deny his essence.”
Featured image: Roberto Sánchez will run for President of Peru in the June 7, 2026 elections.
Image source: Roberto Sanchez from X.