Pedro Castillo, rural teacher with a shot at Peru's presidency

LIMA: Rural school teacher Pedro Castillo was largely unknown in Peru until he led a nationwide strike four years ago.

Now the 51-year-old far-left unionist, rarely without the trademark white, wide-brimmed hat of his home region of Cajamarca, has a chance to become Peru's next president.

Facing off against neoliberal Keiko Fujimori in elections on Sunday, Castillo has vowed to nationalize Peru's vast mineral resources, to expel foreigners who commit crimes in the country, and to move towards reinstating the death penalty.

One thing unlikely to change under a Castillo presidency is the Peruvian state's socially conservative character: he is Catholic and vehemently opposed to gay marriage, elective abortion and euthanasia.

He frequently quotes from the Bible to drive home his points.

In April, Castillo surprised many by taking the lead in the race to become Peru's fifth president in three years.

He had not ranked among the top five choices in opinion polls ahead of a first voting round contested by a record 18 candidates.

Yet Castillo garnered nearly 20 percent of ballots cast amid a raging Covid-19 outbreak to which he also fell victim when he contracted the virus last year.

A poll issued a week ahead of Sunday's vote showed Castillo leading with 42 percent of voter intention, compared to 40 percent for Fujimori.