Enrique Valderrama

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Valderrama and the second or maternal family name is Peña.
Enrique Valderrama
In 2024 at the APRA’s Miraflores branch
Born
Pitter Enrique Valderrama Peña

(1986-04-14) 14 April 1986
Lima, Peru
Alma materPontifical Catholic University of Peru
University of San Martín de Porres (LLB)
International University of La Rioja
Occupations
  • Politician
  • journalist
Political partyPeruvian Aprista Party (2002–present)
Spouse
Jennifer Guerra Espinoza
​
​
(m. 2025)​

Pitter Enrique Valderrama Peña (born 14 April 1986) is a Peruvian politician, journalist, and former political commentator. A member of the Peruvian Aprista Party (APRA), he is currently a member of the party's National Political Commission and the party’s presidential nominee for the upcoming 2026 presidential election.[1]

As a journalist, he serves as a columnist for Expreso.[2] He is also the founder of the political affairs online portal Punto de Encuentro.[3]

Political career

Valderrama has been a member of the Peruvian Aprista Party since 2002, when he joined the party as a minor. He became a fully registered member in 2010. That same year, he was selected as a candidate for the Lima Metropolitan Council in the 2010 municipal election; however, the party’s electoral list, headed by Carlos Roca as mayoral nominee, was ultimately withdrawn.[4][5]

From 2011 to 2012, Valderrama served as General Secretary of the Aprista University Command at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where he was then studying law.[6] After an extended interruption in his studies, during which he worked in the social housing sector, he completed his law degree in 2022 at the University of San Martín de Porres. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in financial markets at the International University of La Rioja.

In July 2021, Valderrama was appointed by party leader César Trelles as a member of the party's National Political Commission.[7] He was subsequently identified by commentators as part of a new generation of party leaders associated with efforts to renew the organization.[8][9] Valderrama was also described as a close follower of former president Alan García, who mentored him during the final years of his political activity, as García sought to promote a new leadership within the party.[10]

2026 presidential run

On 19 September 2025, at a partisan rally held in Comas, Lima, Valderrama announced his candidacy for the Peruvian Aprista Party presidential nomination for the 2026 general election.[11] The race was divided among 14 candidates, with former Prime Ministers Jorge del Castillo and Javier Velásquez, former minister Hernán Garrido Lecca, and Valderrama as the strongest contenders.[12]

At the primary election held on 30 November 2025, Valderrama narrowly secured the party’s presidential nomination, finishing first with 3,779 votes (25.80 percent), a margin of 198 votes over Velásquez, who received 3,581 votes (24.50 percent).[13][14] The outcome was broadly seen as a major upset from an external perspective, since the more seasoned candidates were widely expected to prevail based on their established political careers and internal coalitions.[15]

Valderrama was officially registered as the party’s nominee on 2 January 2025 by the National Jury of Elections, without any objections being filed against the ticket.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Enrique Valderrama será el candidato presidencial del APRA en las Elecciones 2026". La República (in Spanish). 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2026. With 100 percent of the records processed, the list headed by Enrique Valderrama (List 7) defeated the list led by Javier Velásquez Quesquén (List 13) in the party's internal election. Valderrama secured the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) presidential nomination for the 2026 general election after obtaining 3,711 votes, while Velásquez received 3,527 votes.
  2. ^ "Archivos - Enrique Valderrama; Diario Expreso" (in Spanish). Diario Expreso. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Punto de Encuentro" (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Carlos Roca Cáceres será el candidato del Apra a la alcaldía de Lima". Diariocrítico (in Spanish). 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2026. The election of Carlos Roca Cáceres cleared up the uncertainty that had been hanging over the Aprista Party headquarters on Alfonso Ugarte Avenue for several days. In the days leading up to the election, former Labor Minister Susana Pinilla and Foncodes Executive Director Carlos Arana had been touted as future candidates, both of whom had the support of President Alan García.
  5. ^ "Partido Aprista retira candidatura de Carlos Roca a la Alcaldía de Lima". RPP Noticias (in Spanish). 4 August 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2026. The Peruvian Aprista Party (PAP) decided to withdraw Carlos Roca's candidacy for metropolitan mayor of Lima. According to a statement from the National Political Commission, the ruling party will not participate in the electoral process for the mayoralty of Lima. The statement also thanked Roca Cáceres and the candidates for councilors for having assumed such party responsibility.
  6. ^ "Los Pulpines del APRA" (in Spanish). Gato Encerrado. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  7. ^ "POLÍTICOS - PITTER ENRIQUE VALDERRAMA PEÑA". Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  8. ^ Redacción Canal N (21 October 2022). "Enrique Valderrama: Lo principal en este momento es construir la unidad del APRA". Canal N (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  9. ^ Muñoz, Mauricio (31 March 2025). "Elecciones 2026: el APRA busca resurgir entre dudas, viejas caras y nuevos liderazgos". La República (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 July 2025. Enrique Valderrama is one of the youngest figures in the star party. At 36, the activist will be under 40 on election day. Valderrama has been seen participating in political activities in districts such as Comas and San Juan de Lurigancho. For Valderrama, the renewal of the APRA's leadership is necessary in view of the upcoming elections: "I believe that there is a majority tendency in favor of change among the party's grassroots. Those colleagues who have had the opportunity to represent the party in the legislature or the executive branch are seen by the membership as figures who should accompany the 2026 process, but not necessarily in the top positions, but rather as advisors, providing technical support," he said.
  10. ^ Canal B (17 April 2024). "#BaellaTalks. Invitados: Víctor Andrés Marroquín-Merino y Enrique Ghersi". YouTube. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Enrique Valderrama officially announced his candidacy for the APRA party in Comas". YouTube&Bethel Noticias (in European Spanish). 24 September 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  12. ^ "APRA y sus 15 precandidatos con miras las Elecciones 2026: conoce las listas y cuándo se elegirá al representante". La República (in Spanish). 5 November 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  13. ^ "¿Quién es Enrique Valderrama, el joven candidato presidencial del partido aprista?". Perú21 (in Spanish). 5 November 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025. Leaving behind the slates led by historical members of the party, such as Javier Velásquez Quesquén and his alliance with Carla García, daughter of Alan García, and Jorge del Castillo himself alongside Mauricio Mulder, this young 36-year-old candidate would represent the renewal of this political movement.
  14. ^ "¿Quién es Enrique Valderrama, el joven candidato presidencial del partido aprista?". El Comercio (in Spanish). 1 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025. Enrique Valderrama—member of the APRA Political Commission, law graduate, and columnist—has just been elected as the presidential nominee for the Aprista Party, in what must be the most hotly contested primaries at the Casa del Pueblo in recent years. In an interview with El Comercio, he said that the party must reaffirm "its democratic leftist perspective."
  15. ^ "Enrique Valderrama: ¿Cómo queda el Partido Aprista tras su elección? ¿Quiénes rodean al candidato presidencial?". El Comercio (in Spanish). 2 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025. Enrique Valderrama's narrow victory in the internal elections of the Aprista Party and his nomination as presidential candidate has been a severe blow to a sector within the Casa del Pueblo, especially to former Prime Minister Javier Velásquez Quesquén and journalist Carla García. The "popular and provincial ticket" was left out of the 2026 general election by less than 200 votes.
  16. ^ "Enrique Valderrama: ¿Cómo queda el Partido Aprista tras su elección? ¿Quiénes rodean al candidato presidencial?". Perú21 (in Spanish). 2 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2025. The Special Electoral Jury (JEE) of Lima Centro 1 officially registered the Peruvian Aprista Party's presidential ticket for the 2026 general election, after the deadline for challenges passed without any objections being filed.
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