The country has been so evident this year. He has not hidden his fears, his pain, his distrust, his needs. Peru has shown itself to be so defenseless, so unprotected, so scared and so disappointed in 2025 that it has not been difficult to perceive what it needs.
During these holidays, we are embraced by the state of emergency that the Government gave us in the face of so much crime, but also, as always, by hope and faith.
Peruvians want the best for their country and if they had the opportunity to give it a gift this Christmas, for 50% the main one would be citizen security, as revealed by the latest Ipsos survey carried out for Perú21.
Although this gift is so needed by the country, Peruvians would also give it justice (47%), economic growth (37%), stability (34%), honesty (29%), order (19%), love (11%), formality (9%) and tolerance (7%). A package of good wishes that would make Peru better. 2%, with little Christmas spirit, would not give anything to the country on this holiday.
In Lima, the city in the country most affected by crime, citizen security is the gift that is imposed for 58% of those interviewed. In the also threatened north, 54% would choose this gift over other options.
“All the gifts mentioned are absolutely necessary for Peru,” says Ricardo Valdés, the former vice minister of the Interior, who maintains that this response on citizen security reveals a common feeling that runs through society today: the urgency of a State capable of confronting the advance of crime with firmness and a long-term vision.
“The country needs a government that acts with a firm hand, but also with strategy, medium and long-term planning and sustained investment in the fight against crime,” he told Perú21. In his opinion, any security policy is doomed to failure and cannot be put into practice if it is not executed by honest, non-corrupt teams with high technical and professional capacity.
The former official also warns that citizen security is inextricably linked to the functioning of the justice system. Police, Prosecutor’s Office, Judiciary and prison sector must act in a coordinated manner and not as entities in conflict with each other. This articulation, he emphasizes, also requires respect for the separation of powers and a responsible role of both the Executive and the Legislative.
“This gift of security and justice will only be possible if in 2026 the country gives itself an honest Executive and Legislative Branch, with management capacity and true love for Peru,” he says, questioning the primacy of personal and partisan interests that, he says, have marked the public agenda in recent years.
For political analyst José Carlos Requena, all the gifts that Peruvians would like for the country are “absolutely understandable,” since “they are related to citizen expectations, to the main problems that people feel.”
“What draws attention in those first three places is the issue of economic growth. As if people took that for granted, that is, it is something that must be sustained. But I think the most important thing is this aspiration for citizen security and justice,” he explained.
The expert justified that justice appears as the second most gift that would be given to the country, since it has a fundamental importance in the lives of citizens. “The State has a monopoly on security and justice services, and they should be managed with integrity, but that is something that, unfortunately, is not seen.”
WORRYING FEELINGS
But generous Christmas gifts and good wishes don’t seem to go hand in hand with feelings. Peru is a divided country. Shortly before the end of 2025, Peru generates a feeling of concern for 52% of its citizens. Love and affection (9%), pride (8%) and hope (23%) have been displaced by grief (36%) and shame (31%). For 11%, Peru generates a feeling of rage and hatred, and 14% have mixed feelings; and 4% generate indifference or simply do not generate anything.
Regarding these results, Valdés points out that it is inevitable that, in the face of this absence of security and justice, the feeling that prevails among Peruvians is concern. For the former vice minister, the results of the survey say a lot about the country in which we find ourselves living now. “They say a lot about what we need, about how we feel, and it seems to me that the message is absolutely clear for the political organizations that now want to make decisions in the country. I hope that this survey is taken into account by the more than 10,000 candidates who will run for Congress and the Executive, and that they sincerely see that the population’s concern is very true and raw,” reflected Valdés.
Requena, meanwhile, is clear that, although the feelings of shame and anger are striking, this reflects very well what has accumulated in these years.
“What has accumulated from the great disorder, the great political chaos that has dragged on since at least 2016. I think that the severe deterioration in the quality of our rulers and our authorities is what marks this. We will have to see if 2026 brings any change, but it is evident that we are facing a very worrying collective pessimism,” said the political analyst.
