Perú es clave (translated as Peru is key) are satirical catchphrases in Spanish, sometimes accompanied by reaction images of world leaders, amusingly expecting Peru becoming a regional superpower.

It began with the sensationalist thumbnail of a YouTube video on December 2023 before spreading into TikTok in 2024, mostly in relation to events such as the inauguration of China's megaport in Chancay, the visit of streamers such as IShowSpeed to the country's capital and the election of Peruvian-American bishop Robert Prevost as Pope.^[1]

Origin

The origin of the meme is considered to be the thumbnail (shown below, left) a now-unlisted YouTube video (reupload below, right) uploaded on December 31, 2023 by Estrategia Peruana^[2] in which it compares Javier Milei's measures for dealing with the ongoing economic crisis in Argentina^[3] to the 1990 peruvian Fujishock.^[4] Over the course of 3 weeks, it accumulated more than 130,000 views.^[5]

Spread

According to La Republica, the phrase was used on the course of 2024 by TikTok users as a joke in their videos but over the weeks it became viral and spread to other social media platforms like X and Instagram. In particular, the phrase gained popularity whenever a significant event related to Peru occurred.^[1]

(W.I.P)

IShowSpeed's livestream

The meme reached a highlight on January 28, 2025 when, during IShowSpeed's livestream in Lima, Peru, a local follower reached the streamer to make him say the catchphrase. The full video became viral, archiving more than 7 million views in one day.

Variants

Perú es una mierda

A similar exploitable format of the meme begins with Milei stating that "[X] es una mierda" ([X] is shit) before changing his mind on said subject after finding out something, mostly in relation to trans girls. It's first instance may have been a Twitter post by @TheApple26496 on February 6, 2025 (shown below, left) before being reposted on Facebook by Dozangames the same day.^[6] It has since inspired redraws and English-language variants. (shown below, right)

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1] La Republica – ‘Perú es clave’: origen del viral meme y su conexión con Speed, famoso streamer de Estados Unidos

^[2] YouTube – Estrategia Peruana [Archived January 24, 2024]

^[3] Wikipedia – Argentine monetary crisis

^[4] Wikipedia – Fujishock

^[5] YouTube – JAVIER MILEI AFIRMA 👉 PERÚ 🇵🇪 es CLAVE para evitar la CATÁSTROFE ARGENTINA 🇦🇷 [Archived January 24, 2024]

^[6] Facebook – Dozangames post