Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori confirmed she visited the Tomiko spa in Lima on July 11 together with Argentine businessman Damián Valenzuela, days before she was sworn into office, after the visit was first reported by the weekly magazine Hildebrandt en sus Trece.
Speaking in a live broadcast on TikTok, Fujimori responded to users asking about the report. She said she wanted to confirm that on July 11, before she took office as president, she went to the Tomiko hair salon.
Fujimori placed Valenzuela within a group of foreign "friends" who she said helped her during the campaign, alongside two other people she identified only as "Mr. Carlos" and "Mr. Roman." She said she valued the knowledge of those who, in her words, had generously offered to collaborate with her.
Denies romantic relationship
Fujimori was firm when asked about her connection to Valenzuela, denying any romantic relationship. She said people had long invented "four, five relationships" involving her, adding that her commitment, starting July 28 and for the next five years, was to Peru.
She also addressed her use of state resources before her inauguration, saying without being asked directly that the vehicle she used between her election and the swearing-in ceremony was provided by her party, Fuerza Popular, not by the state. She said the office of the president-elect had generated no cost to the national treasury either.
Minister questioned earlier by RPP
Before Fujimori's own remarks, Agrarian Development Minister Marco Antonio Vinelli had already been asked by the radio station RPP about the relationship between the president and Valenzuela. Vinelli said he met the businessman during the campaign process and explained that a photograph showing the two of them together was taken on July 28, the day Fujimori was sworn in at the Hemicycle of Congress, when she introduced several guests invited to the event.
Asked directly whether Valenzuela performed an advisory role, Vinelli neither denied nor fully confirmed it. He said he could not say Valenzuela was an advisor, but that the president consulted many people. He added that his own contribution to the campaign had been limited to the technical side of the government plan, while overall direction was handled by Fujimori, cabinet chief Luis Galarreta and Senate leader Miguel Torres.
On how much influence Valenzuela might currently have over the president, Vinelli said he did not know, since his last contact with the businessman had been on July 28. Asked about Valenzuela's judicial record in the United States and Uruguay, the minister declined to comment, saying it was up to the businessman himself to clarify those cases.
Background
Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, leads the Fuerza Popular party and took office as Peru's president on July 28, 2026, after previously running for the presidency in earlier elections. Hildebrandt en sus Trece is a Peruvian weekly magazine known for investigative political reporting. The Ministry of Agrarian Development, known as Midagri, is the Peruvian government body responsible for agricultural policy.
