Peru's President‑elect Keiko Fujimori to consider emergency decrees for El Niño preparations

President‑elect Keiko Fujimori announced that her incoming administration will evaluate the issuance of emergency decrees to speed up preventive and response measures against the upcoming El Niño phenomenon. She said the government will request legislative powers from the new bicameral Congress, but noted that waiting for approval could delay critical actions, so decrees may be used to act “without waiting for the norms to be approved.”

Fujimori said the first step will be an inventory of machinery available in regional governments and the ministries of Agriculture, Defense and Housing, many of which are currently idle due to maintenance, fuel or staffing shortages. She will call on the private sector, fishermen and farmers to support preventive works, including cleaning riverbeds, reinforcing bridges and mobilising “1,900 points of risk” identified across the country. Lima’s mayor, Renzo Reggiardo, pledged municipal resources, logistics and 1,500 humanitarian kits to assist the national effort.

The president‑elect emphasized that the measures aim to protect lives, agricultural production and infrastructure from the expected heavy rains, floods and landslides linked to El Niño, with actions slated to begin as soon as her term starts on 28 July.