Alberto Fujimori, Peru's deeply divisive former leader, dead at 86

Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori, who spent 16 years in prison for crimes against humanity, died on Wednesday at the age of 86 in the capital Lima, his family said.

"After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has just departed to meet the Lord," his children Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori wrote on the social media platform X.

"We ask those who loved him to join us in praying for the eternal rest of his soul," they wrote, adding: "Thank you for so much, Dad!"

Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, was released from prison on humanitarian grounds in December, two-thirds of the way through a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity during his rule.

Sources close to his family said that his health had deteriorated rapidly after completing treatment for tongue cancer in August. He was last seen in public on Thursday as he was leaving a clinic in the Miraflores district of Lima, where he said he had undergone a CT scan.

The news of his death spread quickly on social media, where his supporters and detractors quarrelled over his legacy. Just a month earlier his daughter Keiko had announced that the right-winger would run for president again in 2026.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén expressed his condolences to the Fujimori family. "We want his children and relatives to know we feel sorrow," he said.

Adrianzén said he would talk to the family about what kind of funeral they want. It was not clear whether Fujimori would receive a state funeral.

Adored and reviled

Fujimori was a one-time university dean who rose to wage a bloody campaign against insurgents as president in the 1990s – but ended up jailed for atrocities.

He was adored and reviled in equal measures in Peru. His supporters credited him with saving the country from left-wing guerrillas and shoring up the economy. His opponents saw him as a power-thirsty autocrat.

Fujimori's decade as president from 1990 was marked by a dramatic series of sieges, massacres and escapades. But he ultimately ended up in jail as a frail, grey figure crippled by back pain, breathing problems and high blood pressure, for which he required frequent hospital stays.

Fujimori, who was of Japanese heritage, was sent to prison in 2009 over massacres committed by army death squads in 1991 and 1992 in which 25 people, including a child, were killed in what he presented as anti-terrorist operations.

In December 2017, then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned Fujimori due to his ill health. But the Supreme Court later annulled the pardon and in January 2019, he was returned to jail from hospital. 

He was released again in December 2023 after a court reinstated his pardon.

Hostage drama

A descendant of Japanese immigrants, Fujimori was initially a marginal figure among political parties but cultivated the support of the Armed Forces. Under him and his hardline security chief Vladimiro Montesinos, state forces virtually wiped out the Shining Path and Túpac Amaru rebels.

Fujimori also clamped down hard on his political rivals. In 1992, he staged an internal coup, dissolving the legislature with the knowledge of only Montesinos and military chiefs. "Act first, tell people about it later," he was quoted as saying.

Born in Lima on July 28, 1938, Fujimori was an agricultural engineer by training, then worked as a university lecturer in mathematics. He studied in France and the United States, eventually earning a Master's degree in mathematics.

Upon his return to Lima, he took a high-level post at his former university, before embarking on his unlikely career in politics. In 1990, he defeated writer Mario Vargas Llosa to win the presidency in a surprise result.

One of the most dramatic episodes of Fujimori's time in power was the four-month hostage ordeal at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, which began in December 1996.

Commandos ended up raiding the Embassy, saving nearly all the VIPs held by Túpac Amaru guerrillas and killing the 14 hostage-takers. That strengthened Fujimori's reputation for fighting terrorism with a firm hand.

At the same time, he won popular support for boosting the economy of the South American country, a major mineral exporter. His neo-liberal economic policies won him the support of the ruling class and international financial institutions.

Downfall

Fujimori's downfall began in 2000 after intelligence chief Montesinos was exposed for corruption. 

The president fled and went into self-imposed exile in Japan and memorably faxed in his resignation. Congress voted to sack him instead and ban him from public office for 10 years.

He was eventually arrested when he set foot in Chile and extradited back to Peru for trial.

A court held Fujimori responsible for the killing by the army of 25 people, including a child, during his campaign against Shining Path in 1991 and 1992. It sentenced him in 2009 to 25 years in jail.

In a separate case, he pleaded guilty to bribing lawmakers and spying on former rivals while in power.

And in March 2021, a court opened proceedings against Fujimori over the forced sterilisation of thousands of poor, mostly indigenous women.

Family soap opera

Fujimori's turbulent decade in office was matched by his family soap opera. He is not the only member of his family to have run into legal troubles. His daughter Keiko has also faced corruption allegations.

Fujimori's wife Susana Higuchi divorced him in 1994 and a year later ran against him but he blocked her by passing a law prohibiting presidents' close family members from succeeding them directly in office.

Keiko took over as the nation's first lady at the age of 19. She herself has staged three failed bids for the presidency.

While in jail, Fujimori was in and out of the hospital with heart, back and stomach trouble. He had several operations to remove cancerous growths from his tongue.

In December 2017, Kuczynski pardoned Fujimori due to his ill health. But the Supreme Court later annulled the pardon and in January 2019, he was returned to jail from hospital. 

Last December he was released from Lima's Barbadillo prison after having served two-thirds of his 25-year term.

– TIMES/AFP
 

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