The fugitive leader of Peru Libre, Vladimir Cerrón, recommended this Tuesday to the mayor of Lima, Rafael López Aliaga, not to run for the 2026 general elections and instead to fulfill his obligations to the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (MML).
Cerrón posted a message on his X account, formerly Twitter, amid growing tensions between the mayor and the executive branch over the Lima-Chosica train project. The statement is consistent with polls that show López Aliaga as the main favorite in the presidential race, ahead of the leader of Fuerza Popular. Keiko Fujimori.
“Porky (referring to the mayor’s nickname) must see himself in the mirror of (George) Forsyth, who was intoxicated by the idea that he was the next president, resigned from office as mayor and then couldn’t even find his voice,” Cerrón wrote, alluding to the former mayor of La Victoria, who left office to run in the 2021 elections.
“You better finish installing the trains because if you don’t do it, no one will and you will go to Barbadillo,” he added. So far, López Aliaga has not publicly responded to the comment.
Last week the Minister of Transport and Communications (MTC), Cesar Sandovalreiterated that the railway project is not feasible for 2025 due to a lack of technical aspects and warned that the mayor could commit corrupt acts if he tries to speed up its implementation without respecting the procedures.
“What we and no one can do is to violate the regulations and administrative and technical procedures in force (…). They can be prosecuted and convicted. Suddenly the bureaucracy in our country is frustrating, but those of us who know the public service must adhere to the procedures set out in the regulations and these cannot be ignored (…) I firmly assure you that they will have problems in the future because they are resources of the state (…),” he explained during a press conference.
Sandoval explained that the technical files – which Mayor Rafael López Aliaga describes as a source of income for “the caviar” – serve to prevent illegal actions in public administration.
“All these procedures serve precisely to prevent acts of corruption. In difficult times, do whatever you want. There is no file, there is no profile, and it is also promoted that there is no technical file (…) This is the scenario that encourages corruption and it is a matter of time before those who behave like this end up where they belong.“, he remarked.
Next the minister mentioned the former mayor Susana Villaran (2011-2014), who is facing trial because of alleged donations of millions from Brazilian construction companies Odebrecht and OAS to finance his 2013 and 2014 election campaigns. “Look at the case of Villarán and other mayors who will follow the same path. We are responsible,” he continued.
This emerges from the survey published by the newspaper Peru 21If elections were held tomorrow, López Aliaga would lead the preferences, having risen by two percentage points and cementing himself as the main presidential choice.
The mayor has stated that he is preparing a government plan with an eye on the year 2026, although he has not confirmed his candidacy because he will be retiring October 12th to decide whether to take part in the elections.
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