Socialist Pedro Castillo was closing in on victory in Peru's presidential election on Thursday, holding a slim lead of some 63,000 votes over conservative rival Keiko Fujimori, who has yet to concede and has alleged fraud despite scant evidence.
Castillo had some 50.2% of the vote and a 0.36 percentage point lead with 99.4% of ballots tallied, with only a small number of contested ballots still being scrutinized.
The schoolteacher and political novice has won widespread grassroots backing for pledges to rewrite the constitution and redistribute mining wealth, rattling the copper-rich Andean nation's traditionally political and business elite.