Mark Carney’s Liberal government is looking to cash in under the new right-wing presidency of Keiko Fujimori in Peru.
According to Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Robert Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, is attending Fujimori’s inauguration in Lima today with the goal to “unlock new opportunities.”
Fujimori is the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto, who was arrested in Chile in 2005 for serious human rights abuses, including allegations of mass killings and forced disappearances of left-wing rebels.
He was extradited to Peru in 2007, where he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After winning Peru’s presidential election by a razor-thin margin last month, some Peruvians fear Fujimori will repeat some of her father’s authoritarian abuses.
Fujimori’s loyalists in congress have recommended criminal charges be brought against one of Peru’s top investigative journalists, in a move that critics have decried as sinister and absurd.
Fujimori’s ascent to the presidency follows years of political instability in Peru, including a period in which the country’s security forces cracked down heavily on Indigenous-led protests in late 2022 and 2023 following the ouster of left-wing president Pedro Castillo.
Alex Cosh
But for Canada’s Liberal government, Fujimori’s election victory is being seen as an opportunity to open new business ventures.
According to GAC’s statement, published yesterday, Oliphant will “engage with Canadian business leaders and investors active in Peru’s mining, infrastructure, defence and financial services sectors as the two countries work to promote the benefits of the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
Back in March, Canada and Peru signed a memorandum of understanding “to advance cooperation on critical minerals and sustainable mining.”
A statement from Natural Resources Canada said the MOU “strengthens Canada’s role as a major foreign mining investor and boosts our exports of mining equipment, technology and services to Peru, creating new opportunities for the Canadian mining industry.”
Canadian companies held nearly $11 billion worth of mining assets in Peru in 2023, according to GAC, making Canada the country’s second-largest foreign investor in the sector.
Writing for Canadian Dimension in 2023, Kirsten Francescone warned: “When Canadian mining companies are embroiled in a conflict with local communities outside of Peru, they often depend on henchmen or paramilitary forces to repress dissent. In Peru, companies benefit from state-sanctioned police protection and impunity.”
