Today's Edition
LIMA (AFP)
Peruvian presidential hopeful Rafael Belaunde escaped bloodied but not seriously hurt Tuesday from an attack by gunmen on his car south of the capital Lima, police said.
Two gunmen on a motorbike fired "eight or nine" shots at the SUV the 50-year-old politician was driving and the candidate returned fire, according to police chief General Oscar Arriola.
Three bullets shattered the front window, police said, leaving Belaunde with blood stains on his face and shirt from cuts caused by broken glass, widely seen in images on TV and social media.
Belaunde said the injuries were "scratches sustained after the incident," in the town of Cerro Azul, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Lima.
Using his own weapon, Belaunde fired "at least 12 shots" at his attackers, Arriola told news outlet Peru 21. No gunshot injuries were reported.
Belaunde, a former energy minister and grandson of two-term ex-president Fernando Belaunde, told police he had not received any threats.
Belaunde faces a group of at least 12 candidates ahead of the general elections on April 12, including former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga and Keiko Fujimori, daughter of late former president Alberto Fujimori.
"I strongly condemn this criminal act, a reflection of the violence that affects thousands of Peruvians every day. We cannot normalise these criminal acts, which must be combated with the full force of the law," Keiko Fujimori wrote on X.
The next president of Peru will be sworn in on July 2026.
