The first female mayor of Lima, Peru has survived a referendum to throw her out of office.  Mayor Susana Villarán got support from 52 percent of the city’s voters.

Villarán is also the first Left-Wing politician to be elected mayor of Peru’s capital city.  Her supporters say Peru’s wealthy conservative business leaders have been plotting to oust her ever since.  Those supporters include the former UN secretary general, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar; Peru’s President Ollanta Humala and even the political party of the opponent she beat to the mayoral office.

Villarán’s policies have been progressive, but they’ve also targeted corruption.  Infrastructure improvements have come to the city’s poor outlying regions, winning over residents who believe they’ve been passed over by past development projects.

She has also angered religious conservatives by supporting gay rights and prohibiting discrimination against the LGBT community.