Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, is squared off against leftist-populist Ollanta Humala in a June 5 runoff election for Peru's presidency.
She welcomed AFP to her home in the capital Tuesday just before setting out on the campaign trail in Peru's north.
Though a fierce defender of her father, she said she drew inspiration from two other more recent, and politically very different, Latin American leaders.
"On security issues, I believe that (Colombian President Alvaro) Uribe made great strides, and has given Colombia a lot of stability," said Fujimori, 35.
"But on social policy, I like very much what (former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) has done. He achieved amazing numbers combating poverty.
"Brazil's social program is something I am reviewing and analyzing," she said.
About one-third of Peru's population lives in poverty, and the gap between rich and poor remains stark even after a decade of breakneck growth that has made the country one of Latin America's rare economic success stories.
Many Peruvians, however, fear that Humala's pledge to reshape the constitution, as leftist President Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela, could end up derailing the country's economic growth.
Fujimori favors free-market policies, but is mistrusted by many because of the record of corruption and human rights abuses during her father's 10-year presidency, from 1990-2000.
And while her father's iron-fisted campaign to crush leftist guerrilla movements was not a main issue in the first round, Fujimori is expected to face greater criticism and scrutiny in the runoff.
She served as her father's "first lady" after her parents divorced, and has inherited his once-formidable political base.
Fujimori, who is married and has two children, said that she has not had time to visit her father in detention since she made it into the runoff.
"I saw him the day before the election (April 10). My brothers have told me that he is in good spirits and his health is stable. But I haven't been able to see him because I am campaigning and refining campaign strategy," she said.
Many Peruvians wonder how Fujimori can link herself to the hard-line security policies of her father's government without being tainted by his convictions for corruption and human rights abuses.
"So many people fondly remember the achievements of my father's government," she said. "I acknowledge that major mistakes were made, but I am not Alberto Fujimori, I am Keiko Fujimori," the lawmaker said.
"The best thing about his government was that he brought peace; the most negative was not having confronted corruption more aggressively," she allowed.
In the first round, Humala won 31 percent of the vote to Fujimori's 23 percent.
In the only poll taken since the first round, by Ipsos-Apoyo and published on Sunday, Fujimori was trailing Humala, who had 42 percent to her 36 percent.