Politician named Hitler and Mussolini wins local elections in Peru

A Peruvian politician has attracted attention because his name matches those of two infamous dictators in history.

Hitler Mussolini Simeón Flores, 45, was elected mayor of the Queropalca district in the Huánuco region of the Peruvian Andes. He won the local race by 25 votes over his closest rival.

The candidate from the center-left Ahora Nación party received 229 votes, or 34.5 percent of the 663 valid votes. Gaspar Benilde Osorio Zambrano, who ran for Peru Popular Renewal, secured 204 votes, or 30.8 percent.

According to official data from 2024, Queropalca has just over 730 residents. In this small community, the difference between the two candidates determined the election result.

Flores is a businessman from Huánuco and runs the Simeon Sac investment group in Pillco Marca, also in the same region.

His name contains the names of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader of Germany, and Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator. However, a name does not constitute proof of a person’s political beliefs.

Flores’s election came during Peru’s regional and municipal elections, at a time of significant political developments in the country. He will lead a small district in the Andes.

This is not the first similar case in Peru. Hitler Alba Sánchez led the municipality of Yungar from 2011 to 2014. In the 2018 elections, he ran again and won with 47.7 percent of the vote, using slogans such as “Hitler returns” and “Hitler with the people.”

Alba has said that when his father gave him the name, he did not know the history and legacy of the Nazi dictator.

Adolf Hitler led Nazi Germany and was responsible for the Holocaust and mass crimes during World War II. Benito Mussolini founded Italian fascism and was Italy’s dictator. Both names are associated with totalitarian regimes, political persecution and gross violations of human rights.

The similarity between Flores’s name and those of the two dictators does not demonstrate any ideological connection to them. He ran for a center-left party and was elected by voters in Queropalca.