Peru’s Government Rules Out Pardons for Toledo and Castillo

Peru · Politics

Peru’s government has sent mixed signals on clemency for two jailed former presidents, ultimately slamming the door on both.

For anyone following Latin America’s judicial and political turbulence, the cases of Toledo and Castillo in Peru are a reminder that presidential pardons are rarely simple legal acts — they are political minefields. In the space of five days in August 2026, President Keiko Fujimori’s administration first suggested a humanitarian pardon for ex-president Alejandro Toledo was under review, then flatly ruled it out, while also declaring a pardon for Pedro Castillo “impossible”. The statements clarify little about the men’s fates, but they reveal much about the political calculations of a government navigating corruption convictions, coup attempts and public anger.

A Pardon That Wasn’t

On 3 August 2026, President Fujimori told reporters that Toledo’s humanitarian pardon request “is going to be evaluated with two types of analysis: a technical and medical character, and also with a humanitarian view”. She added that the Commission on Pardons and Presidential Graces first needed to be formed before any analysis could begin. The statement appeared to open a window for the 80-year-old former president, who has cancer and has been held at the Barbadillo prison since his extradition from the United States.

Five days later, Justice Minister Ernesto Álvarez slammed that window shut. In an interview with Panamericana TV, he said the government did not currently contemplate granting a pardon to Toledo. “One cannot pardon Toledo,” he said, explaining that presidential graces depend essentially on “a state of serious illness”. Álvarez stressed that any evaluation could only proceed if medical reports corroborate the severity of Toledo’s cancer. The shift in tone was abrupt, suggesting either internal disagreement or a deliberate two-step approach to test public reaction.

Castillo: A Political and Legal Dead End

Álvarez was also asked about Pedro Castillo, the former rural schoolteacher turned president who attempted to dissolve Congress in December 2022. His answer was categorical: “In this scenario it is impossible. Legally, the Peruvian state already has a legal solution and this is already public.” The minister went further, describing protests calling for Castillo’s release as “blackmail” and insisting he would not be swayed unless Castillo faced a serious illness or grave problem.

Castillo is serving an 11-year-5-month sentence for his failed self-coup, a term that many legal analysts considered relatively lenient given the severity of the charge. But for the Fujimori government, any move toward clemency would be politically toxic. Castillo retains a loyal base in Peru’s southern highlands, and his supporters have repeatedly taken to the streets. Granting him a pardon would be read as capitulation to that pressure — something Álvarez explicitly rejected by using the word “blackmail”.

The Legal Status of Toledo and Castillo

Toledo and Castillo occupy different legal universes, though they share the same prison complex. Toledo, Peru’s president from 2001 to 2006, has been convicted twice in connection with the Odebrecht corruption scandal. Reports cite sentences of more than 30 years in total, with RPP noting that in 2025 he received an additional 13 years and 4 months for aggravated money laundering. His humanitarian pardon request rests on his cancer diagnosis, but the government has made clear that medical evidence must be unambiguous before any mercy is shown.

Castillo’s case is more straightforward in legal terms: he was tried and convicted for a specific act — attempting to shut down Congress and rule by decree. There is no corruption angle, no foreign bribery scandal, no complex financial web. It was a direct challenge to Peru’s constitutional order, and the judiciary responded with a firm sentence. For the government, pardoning Castillo would not only be politically dangerous but would also undermine the institutional response to the 2022 crisis.

Politics, Pardons and Perception

The Fujimori administration’s handling of both cases reflects a broader tension in Peruvian politics. Keiko Fujimori herself spent 16 months in pre-trial detention between 2018 and 2020 on corruption charges, and she knows better than most how the public reads acts of executive clemency. Her father, Alberto Fujimori, was pardoned in 2017 by then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski — a decision that triggered massive protests and was later annulled by the courts. The political cost of that pardon still echoes in Lima’s corridors of power.

By first suggesting Toledo’s case would be reviewed, then rejecting it, the government may have been testing the waters. But the final message is clear: no pardons for Toledo and Castillo in the current scenario. For Toledo, the door remains theoretically open if his health deteriorates further and medical reports confirm it. For Castillo, the door appears welded shut. The contrast is telling — one former president may yet benefit from humanitarian considerations, while the other is treated as a constitutional threat with no path to clemency. In Peru’s deeply polarised climate, that distinction is unlikely to satisfy anyone.

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Sources: La República; Infobae; Diario Correo; RPP; Panamericana TV.

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