Peru faces polarizing presidential runoff as teacher takes voters by surprise

Pedro Castillo will face Keiko Fujimori, the far-right heiress to one of the country's enduring and controversial political dynasties

Peru faces a polarizing presidential runoff vote, in which a hard-left schoolteacher - who caught a wave of popular discontent over the coronavirus and a cratering economy - will face the far-right heiress to one of the country's most enduring and controversial political dynasties.

Pedro Castillo, a veteran teachers' union leader, took pollsters and voters by surprise in Sunday's first-round vote winning 18.47%, with 84% of the official vote counted. In second place, Keiko Fujimori - daughter of the jailed former leader Alberto Fujimori - polled 13.12%, closely followed by two more far-right candidates.