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Peru Presidential Favorite to Resume Campaign After Health Scare

Peru’s Castillo Suspends Campaigning Citing Health Reasons

Peru’s leftist presidential front-runner Pedro Castillo says he’ll resume his campaign on Friday after a throat infection forced him to cancel a rally in in Lima.

Castillo pulled out of the event on Thursday, and checked into a clinic.

Castillo’s wide lead in polls, his radical agenda and the backing of the Marxist Free Peru party, triggered a sell-off in Peru’s bonds and currency earlier this month. The country’s dollar-denominated bonds, due in 2031 and 2051, were little changed in early U.S. trading Friday, holding onto a weekly gain.

Late Thursday, Castillo said on Twitter that he had been diagnosed with an infection and that he would resume campaigning and debate his rival Keiko Fujimori on Saturday.

“Nothing can stop us on our march, with the people, toward a horizon of justice and liberty,” he wrote.

Polls show Castillo, 51, is the clear front-runner in the June 6 presidential runoff against Fujimori.

Read More: Peru Presidential Favorite Distances Himself From Marxist Allies

A former school teacher and union organizer, Castillo tested positive for Covid-19 in January -- during the first round of the presidential election -- and was forced to suspend campaign activities for a month.

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