Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Kenya Fujimori Fujimori (Japanese: 藤森アルベルト [Fujimori Aruberuto]; Lima, July 28, 1938) is a Peruvian-Japanese politician, mathematician, and agronomist. He was President of the Republic of Peru from July 28, 1990 to November 21, 2000. Various voices They classify him as a dictator.

He was elected rector of the La Molina National Agrarian University, a position he held until 1989, and in 1987 he became president of the National Assembly of Rectors. The political current called Fujimorism arose around his figure. He is currently in prison in the Barbadillo prison in the district of Ate, Lima, after being convicted of various crimes, including crimes, corruption, embezzlement and usurpation of functions. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) classified the acts committed by the former president, referring to the La Cantuta massacre, as serious violations of human rights.

In 1990, he was democratically elected President of the Republic of Peru. However, he later promoted the 1992 self-coup (characterized by the illegal takeover of public institutions), becoming an authoritarian leader. After the coup, he convened a Democratic Constituent Congress in charge of drafting the Political Constitution of 1993 that allowed the presidential re-election. Similarly, at the end of this second government he promulgated the "Authentic Interpretation Law" that allowed him to run for the presidency for the third time in a row. His period of government was characterized by the economic modernization of Peru and the fight against terrorism, which led to its growth and economic stabilization. However, his Government included important authoritarian components and the concentration of power in the Executive. decade, the free market economic model began, still in force in the country. Various politicians, especially his critics and opponents, intellectuals, social media and various media consider him a dictator.

He was elected for the third time in the 2000 elections according to official results, although with strong accusations of electoral fraud. At the end of 2000, after various corruption scandals involving officials linked to his management, he traveled from Peru to Brunei to attend the annual APEC summit. Right after this meeting, he traveled to Japan, from where he faxed his resignation from the post of president, which was not accepted by Congress, which declared his "moral incapacity" and the vacancy of the presidency. Thanks to that he was granted Japanese nationality by birth, he evaded the legal charges against him.

In 2005, he traveled to Chile as a transit country for his potential return to Peru with the intention of participating in the 2006 Peruvian general elections. However, he was arrested due to the existing international arrest warrant against him During his stay in Chile, he unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Japanese Senate for the Kokumin Shintō party. He was subsequently extradited to Peru to face criminal charges in September 2007, after which he faces trials in detention for crimes committed during his government. Until 2020 he has received five convictions.

On December 24, 2017, he was temporarily benefited and released thanks to a humanitarian pardon by then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, although on October 3, 2018 the Judiciary annulled said pardon, ordering his location and capture. Hours After the verdict of the Judiciary, Fujimori was admitted to the Centenario clinic, but on January 23, 2019, he returned to serve his sentence at the Barbadillo prison.

On March 17, 2022, he was released from his sentence thanks to the habeas corpus presented by the lawyer Gregorio Parco Alarcón and declared founded by the Constitutional Court. The pardon has been questioned by people and institutions at the national and international level, such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and experts from the United Nations.

Early Years

He was born in Lima (Peru), into a middle-class family, the son of Alberto Fujimori (born Naoichi Minami) and Mutsue Inomoto, both natives of Kumamoto, Japan, who immigrated to Peru in 1934 looking for work and better living conditions.

Fujimori completed his school studies at the Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Merced, La Rectora and at the Great Alfonso Ugarte School Unit in Lima. He studied Agronomy at the La Molina National Agrarian University in 1957, where he graduated as an agronomist in 1961, the first of his class. In 1964, he studied Pure Physics at the University of Strasbourg in France, and later pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the United States where he obtained a Master's degree in Mathematical Sciences in 1969.

He returned to the National Agrarian University to be a professor and later became dean of its Faculty of Sciences. Later in 1984, he was elected rector, a position he held until 1989. During this period he also assumed the position of president of the National Assembly of Rectors in 1987 and hosted the debate television program called Concertando (1987-1989) broadcast by Televisión Nacional de Perú.

Nationality

At the end of the 1990s there were journalistic investigations into the nationality of Alberto Fujimori, since it was doubtful whether he had Peruvian or Japanese nationality.

His father, Naoichi Fujimori, registered him in the Japanese family registry Koseki on August 2, 1938 before the Japanese consulate in Peru. The koseki is an equivalent to a birth certificate. Due to this, he obtained the right to Japanese nationality by birth, which was recognized by the State of Japan at the request of Fujimori in 2000. Thus, he has double Nationality: Peruvian-Japanese, both by birth.

The Koseki Fujimori details that Kenya Fujimori (Alberto Fujimori) is the eldest son of Naoichi and Mutsue Fujimori, born on July 26, 1938 in Surco, Lima province, Peru. His father is the natural son of Kajuu Minami and his wife Toki (Alberto Fujimori's natural grandparents). However, Naoichi was adopted on November 28, 1911 by Kintaro Fujimori and his wife Hagi (Alberto Fujimori's adoptive grandparents).

It should be noted that all those born to Japanese parents before January 1, 1985 registered in the Koseki 3 months after birth "reserve Japanese nationality" without any additional procedure being carried out. Persons in this condition do not need to declare their choice of nationality in order to retain Japanese nationality, as the Japanese Nationality Law treats the lack of such declaration as a choice of Japanese nationality.

In 2006, he entered Chile with a Peruvian passport, using Peruvian as his active nationality and Japanese as his passive nationality.

Political life

Fujimori began his political career in 1990, when he ran for president in that year's general elections at the head of the Cambio 90 movement, which he had created the previous year. Fujimori, then unknown in the political spheres, received initial support from marginal sectors of Peruvian society, small businessmen and some evangelical churches, who were making their entry into Peruvian political life.

Fujimori obtained 29.9% of the votes in the first round in April 1990, going to the second round against the laureate writer Mario Vargas Llosa; who led the Democratic Front (Fredemo), which brought together the traditional parties of the center and right of Peru and left behind the official candidate (APRA), Luis Alva Castro.

For the second electoral round, Fujimori received the support of leftist groups and the implicit backing of the Aprista government of Alan García. During this stage he begins to work with Vladimiro Montesinos, a lawyer and former army captain. On June 10, 1990, Alberto Fujimori defeated Mario Vargas Llosa with 62.32% of the votes.

Fujimori has been the leader of seven different political groups: the Cambio 90 movement, the Nueva Mayoría movement, the Vamos Vecino movement, the Peru 2000 alliance, the Sí Cumple party, the Peru Patria Segura party, and the Alliance for the Future. In addition, he unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Japanese Senate for the Kokumin Shintō party. In 2011, it still had the sympathy of a sector of the Peruvian population and in the 2011 elections, Fuerza 2011, the coalition that groups the Fujimori parties, obtained the second majority with thirty-seven seats in the Unicameral Parliament (130). In the 2016 general elections, the Fujimori group under the name Fuerza Popular, led by his daughter Keiko Fujimori, won seventy-three seats in the Unicameral Parliament of 130 (56%), which ensured an absolute majority.

Government

First government (1990-1995)

Fujimori began his government on July 28, 1990. He soon broke ties with the evangelical (Carlos García García) and informal groups that had initially supported him and due to the lack of government cadres, his government policy depended on the advice of the executive branch of the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which sent specialists to apply their economic shock plans. It is in these circumstances that his adviser, former captain Vladimiro Montesinos, begins to play a leading role in his government.

The main actions of the first government were to control hyperinflation (in 1989 annual inflation was 2775%), to minimize political violence and terror, the privatization of some state companies, the dissolution of Congress, the approval of a new Constitution in 1993, the defeat of the terrorist groups Sendero Luminoso and MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru), and the economic reforms introduced in the economy for its recovery.

Fujishock and macroeconomic policy change

Alberto Fujimori in October 1998.

A team of technicians accompanied Fujimori from the end of the first round and during the transition period in order to advise on economic matters, which the press called the group of the seven samurai made up of Santiago Roca, Adolfo Figueroa, Óscar Ugarteche, Esteban Hnylicza, Guillermo Runciman, Fernando Villarán de la Puente and Martha Rodríguez. This group was replaced by new, more orthodox advisors such as Hernando de Soto, Carlos Rodríguez Pastor Mendoza, Carlos Boloña Behr, and finally Juan Carlos Hurtado Miller.

Alberto Fujimori, unlike Mario Vargas Llosa, had denied the implementation of an economic shock during his candidacy, however, 9 days after taking power on July 28, 1990; the government had to follow the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund. That is why, on August 8, 1990, the President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Economy, Juan Carlos Hurtado Miller, went on national television announcing a price restructuring, which would be known as the "fujishock». This government measure made it possible to control inflation, but caused the devaluation of the wages of the majority of the population. It was the first of many reforms of liberal tendencies and some of clientelist capitalism, which caused the elimination of price controls and the subsequent change of currency to the new sol (which would replace the inti, with an equivalent of 1 million intis for each new sun).

As a result of the firm and sustained implementation of a program that we now begin, prices in December will only be marginally higher than those in November and not as now multiplying weekly. [...] Thus, the evaporated milk can that today cost 120 thousand intis, will cost from tomorrow 330 thousand intis. The kilo of white sugar that only got 150 thousand intis will cost from tomorrow 300 thousand intis. The French bread that cost 9 thousand intis this afternoon will cost from tomorrow 25 thousand intis. [...] A few times in Peru or anywhere in the world has been required of all a sacrifice as great as the one that Peru needs. We have to go through a short period of a few months, in which before we are better we will feel worse. It's the price we have to pay for what happened in recent years. [...] Peru has a future. [...] May God help us, God help us.

Juan Carlos Hurtado Miller
President of the Council of Ministers
Message to the Nation of August 8, 1990

From the economic adjustment of August 1990, the functions of the State were redefined and the market assumed a new and fundamental role in the Peruvian economy, following the recommendations of the Washington Consensus, which proposed a tax reform, a rigorous fiscal discipline, the firm financial and commercial liberalization, the establishment of a competitive exchange rate, the privatization of companies, the elimination of barriers to direct foreign investment, among others.

Although it managed to stabilize economic life and allowed Peru's reintegration into the international financial system, as well as the privatization of state companies, union activity was reduced to a minimum and informal economic activity increased. On the other hand, the reduction of the State and the liberalization of the national economy encouraged foreign investment. As a result, the IMF complied with Peru's measures and guaranteed loan financing for Peru. Inflation began to fall and foreign investment capital began to arrive. In 1994 the Peruvian economy grew by 13%.

Fujimori's initiative relaxed private sector price controls, slashed government subsidies and government employment, removed all exchange controls, and also reduced restrictions on investment, imports, and capital. radically simplified, the minimum wage was immediately quadrupled, and the government established a $400 million poverty alleviation fund.

However, the privatizations carried out by the Fujimori administration were not liberal, but crony capitalism because it privatized companies with legal monopolies, as in the case of the sale of the Peruvian Telephone Company to the Spanish Telefónica because, instead of opting for the massive diffusion of capital (property) through a shareholding spread to the workers, or to the citizens, it was preferred to sell the state companies with a solely fiscal purpose of obtaining the best prices for their shares.

The social balance was much less positive. The majority of the population has not benefited from the years of strong growth, which will ultimately only widen the inequalities between rich and poor. The poverty rate remained around 50%, a level comparable to that of Alan García at the end of his term.

Much of the money generated by privatizations has been absorbed by corruption. In 2004, Transparency International estimated that Fujimori embezzled $600 million during his administration and named him one of the ten most corrupt former heads of state of the last 20 years.

Closure of Congress and constitutional rupture

Although Fujimori had triumphed in the 1990 presidential elections, in the election for the Congress of the Republic his Cambio 90 party had a fairly regular performance. He obtained only 32 of the 180 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 14 of 62 in the Senators, making up the third force in both chambers, after APRA and FREDEMO. Because of this, the relationship between the government and parliament was marked by tension and confrontation from the beginning of the administration. The balance of powers of the State and the parliamentary supervision of the Executive, principles of democracy expressed in the 1979 Constitution, meant a nuisance in Fujimori's immediate and populist perspective. Although Congress granted legislative powers to the government, the subsequent revision of the packages of decrees irritated the president, who in turn observed the laws approved by the Legislature. Taking advantage of the great popularity crisis that both Congress and politics were going through traditional in general, Fujimori spends months reinforcing the story that the latter were nothing more than a hindrance in the search for a solution to the country's problems, especially the fight against the insurgency, and begins to secretly plan the closure of Congress and the control absolute power. There are even testimonies that confirm that Fujimori stopped the capture of the leader of Sendero Luminoso Abimael Guzmán in December 1990, as this would have ruined his plans. The rupture of the constitutional order finally occurred on the night of Sunday, April 5, 1992, in what that would end up being known as the self-coup of April 5. Fujimori issued a message to the Nation in which he ordered the dissolution of the Congress of the Republic and the suspension of the activities of the Judiciary, while the Armed Forces were deployed in different cities, surrounding the headquarters of the main democratic institutions and the houses of political opponents., assaulting the media and kidnapping people, such as the journalist Gustavo Gorriti. Paradoxically, the self-coup was supported by a majority of the citizenry and at the same time meant the end of the democratic legitimacy of the Fujimori government, which would last for 8 more years.

It is true that the Constitution itself provides for the mechanisms for its modification, but it is equally true that (...) (ello) It would mean that, almost at the end of this mandate, we would only have the necessary legal instruments for the general reconstruction of Peru. (...)

What is the institution or mechanism that would allow all the profound changes that in turn make it possible to take off Peru? Undoubtedly neither the Parliament, nor the Judiciary, are today agents of change, but rather brake on transformation and progress.
As President of the Republic, I have directly observed all of these anomalies and I have felt the responsibility of taking an exceptional attitude to seek to lighten the process of this national reconstruction, so I have decided to take the following important measures.

1. To temporarily resolve the Congress of the Republic, until the approval of a new organizational structure of the Legislative Power, which will be approved by a national plebiscite.

2. Fully reorganize the judiciary, the National Council of the Magistracy, the Constitutional Court of Guarantees, and the Public Prosecutor ' s Office for an honest and efficient administration of justice.

3. Restruct the Office of the Comptroller-General of the Republic with the aim of ensuring adequate and timely control of the public administration, which leads to drastic penalties for those responsible for the embezzlement of State resources.

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori,
5 April 1992.

On November 13, 1992, EP Major General Jaime Salinas Sedó led, along with a group of soldiers from the Peruvian Army, an attempted counter-coup with the aim of restoring democratic order. When the military rose up against Fujimori, he quickly sought refuge in the Japanese embassy, denouncing the move as an assassination attempt. The action was controlled and its leaders imprisoned.

Fujimori then began a facto government that was baptized the Government of Emergency and National Reconstruction, which was branded as authoritarian. That same year, due to both internal and external pressure (mainly from the OAS), he quickly called elections for a Democratic Constituent Congress that would sanction, after the 1993 Constitution was approved in a referendum, which brought with it changes in the functioning of the State, giving more power to the president and cutting the powers of Congress; in addition to reducing the supervisory power of the state in different areas. This constitution was approved by means of the referendum of 1993 counting in favor of 52.24% of the valid votes.

Fight against terrorism and human rights violations

At the beginning of his government there was an intense campaign of terrorist attacks by the Maoist organization Sendero Luminoso (which in the countryside was beginning to have serious setbacks in its war against the State) and, to a lesser extent, by the Guevarist revolutionary movement MRTA. In Lima, the explosion of a car bomb on July 16, 1992 on Tarata Street, —in the Miraflores district— would be the bloodiest action that would mark this period.

A new anti-subversive strategy was applied that focused the actions of the DIRCOTE and the Armed Forces. in the capture of the leaders of the terrorist organizations, leaving the armed combat and patrolling in the hands of the DECAS (Anti-subversive Civil Defense Committees) with the help of the Peruvian Army. Thus, there is a significant decrease in terrorist actions.

There were also acts of violence related to state repression and serious human rights violations. In December 1991, the Barrios Altos massacre occurred, in which 15 people were murdered; and in July 1992, 9 students and a professor from the Enrique Guzmán y Valle National University of Education (La Cantuta) were murdered. These actions were carried out by the Colina Group, a death squad that functioned during those years as a paramilitary group based on combat against possible members of the terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso.

The actions of the Intelligence Services of the Peruvian Navy, Army and National Police, combined with the self-organized Rural Militias of the Sierra -commonly called Ronderos- who were trained and equipped militarily, they managed to deal increasingly hard blows to terrorism. In July 1992, the capture of Víctor Polay Campos, leader of the MRTA, was achieved. On September 12, the decisive blow was dealt to terrorism. On that date, the GEIN, a special group of the National Directorate against Terrorism (DINCOTE), led by Colonel PNP Ketín Vidal, managed to peacefully capture Abimael Guzmán, leader of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, who was trying to establish a Maoist regime in Peru. along with various members of the organization's Central Committee. After this, Sendero Luminoso went into a clear decline and in a few years had been reduced to a few columns located in the high Peruvian jungle, without representing any significant threat. In this way, a decade of terrorism by that organization ended.

In this regard, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission mentions in its "General Conclusions":

50. The CVR notes that since 1985 the police forces became more aware of the organization and forms of action of the subversive groups, until the operational intelligence work of the DINCOTE (formerly DIRCOTE) achieved the impeccable captures of the main subversive leaders. These include Victor Polay Campos, MRTA, 9 June 1992, and Abimael Guzmán Reinoso, PCP-SL, on 12 September 1992. These captures were a key factor in achieving the strategic defeat of subversion and terrorism. 100. The CVR has found that since 1992, the new counter-subversive strategy emphasized the selective elimination of the political-administrative organizations (OPAs) of the subversive groups. Vinculado a Vladimiro Montesinos acted a squa-dron of death called “Colina”, responsible for murders, enforced disappearances, and massacres with cruelty and outrage. The CVR has reasonable evidence to assert that President Alberto Fujimori, his advisor Vladimiro Montesinos and senior SIN officials have criminal responsibility for the murders, disappearances and massacres perpetrated by the death squad known as "Colina".

CVR - General conclusions

Reelection

Because the new Political Constitution allowed presidential re-election; Fujimori was able to stand in the General Elections of 1995, being re-elected with 64% of the votes by defeating the former Secretary General of the United Nations Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

Second government of Alberto Fujimori (1995-2000)

Amnesty Law

In June 1995, after having been re-elected by a majority, Fujimori promulgated an amnesty law issued by the Democratic Constituent Congress with a Fujimorist majority. This law closed all ongoing and future trials and investigations into human rights violations committed by state agents during the period of violence. The amnesty also included the state agents involved in the recent border conflict with Ecuador, on the one hand, and, on the other, the generals who, under the command of Jaime Salinas Sedó, tried to restore the constitutional order of 1979 on November 13. 1992. Compliance with the law allowed the release of Santiago Martín Rivas and other members of the Colina Group.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

The Democratic Constituent Congress has given the following Law:

Article 1 General amnesty shall be accorded to military, police or civil personnel, irrespective of their military or police or corresponding official status, who is denounced, investigated, prosecuted, prosecuted or convicted of common and military crimes in the Common or Military Privative Fueros, respectively, for all acts derived or originated on the occasion or as a result of the fight against terrorism and which may have been committed individually or in a group until May 1980. [...]

Article 6o.- The facts or offences included in the present amnesty, as well as the final dismissals and the acquittals, are not subject to investigation, investigation or summary; all cases remain judiacles, in process or in execution, definitively filed. [...]

Handle is published and fulfilled.

Given in the House of Government, in Lima, on the fourteenth day of the month of June, nine hundred and ninety-five.

ALBERTO FUJIMORI FUJIMORI

Constitutional President of the Republic

Act No. 26479

Law 26479, together with the complementary law 26492, were annulled years later in a binding judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Contraceptive Policy

In 1995, President Fujimori declared that he wanted to reduce extreme poverty by 50% by the year 2000. He announced the National Family Planning Program the following year, which said that "methods would be provided safe contraceptives for free. However, the show strayed from the original concept. Many surgeries have been performed on women without their consent. It is estimated that only 30% of them had prior consent. This was especially unacceptable in areas with low-income populations, such as the Andes and the Amazon. Numerical targets were set and quotas of 66% and 38% were imposed on doctors from the states of Amazonas and Ancash, respectively, to perform the surgeries.

These funds came mainly from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), but the Nippon Foundation, of which Ayako Sono was then president, also supported the plan.

Authentic Interpretation Law

In 1996, Fujimori began illegal maneuvers to run for the third time as a candidate, unleashing the political controversy surrounding the Constitution by promulgating a law called the Authentic Interpretation of the Constitution, in which that he empowered himself to run for the presidency for the third time. The argument of this law indicated that although article 112 indicated that the president could only be re-elected for an immediate period or after another constitutional period had elapsed, Fujimori's election in 1990 did not count because the Constitution was not in force. of 1993 but that of 1979. In this sense, Fujimori argued that he had only presented himself as a candidate once (1995), so in the year 2000 he would be running for the second time.

«Be authentically interfering, that the re-election referred to in Article 112. of the Constitution, it is referred to and conditioned upon the presidential mandates initiated after the date of promulgation of the aforementioned constitutional text. Therefore, be genuinely intertwined, that in the computation is not retroactively taken into account, the presidential periods initiated prior to the validity of the Constitution».

Act No. 26657

On the other hand, sectors critical of the law noted that precisely as the drafters of the law argued, Fujimori's mandate, which began in 1990, occurred when the 1979 Constitution was in force, which did not allow immediate re-election. Therefore, his second term could only be justified assuming that the 1993 Constitution (which allowed two consecutive terms) applied to the presidential term that began in 1990.

The Constitutional Court, divided by this controversy, tried to rule on the constitutionality of this law. In January 1997, the Court finally declared the law inapplicable:

It follows from the simple comparison of Articles 112 of the Constitution and 205 of the previous Constitution that:

(a) The previous Constitution prohibited immediate presidential re-election;

(b) The current Constitution allows it, for one time, to have a period for the re-elected President to be able to apply again; and

(c) The present Constitution regulated and governed the presidential role of the Head of State during its first period, from 31 December 1993 to July 1995, and also regulates and governs the presidential role of the second term, which began on 28 July 1995.

The text of article 112 of the Constitution offers no doubt, in relation to what the Constituent of a thousand nine hundred nineties expressed with this device, i.e., that no Constitutional President exercises political power, in a legitimate way, for more than ten consecutive years (five corresponding to the election, and five subsequent ones, to the re-election), not being able to modify by way differently the constitutional reform, whose procedure is established. [...]

[...] this Tribunal, pursuant to article 138 of the Political Charter, and pursuant to article 4 of its Organic Law that empowers it to resolve and adopt agreements by a simple majority of votes, except special cases, in accordance with the General Provisions First and Second of the same legal body, is obliged to declare, in application of the peremptory rules of the "defatuated control" that any jurisdictional organ is in the unexcusable exercise of

CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL
Judgment of 3 January 1997

This fact motivated the Congress of the Republic, with a Fujimori majority, to dismiss three of its members, ending any vestige of independence in the Peruvian justice system. These circumstances determined the start of protests by students, unions, and numerous civil society groups.

The Hostage Crisis

Replica of the residence of the Ambassador of Japan in Lima.

Starting in December 1996, Fujimori faced the so-called hostage crisis, which would be the last major terrorist action that Peru experienced. On December 17, 1996, 14 members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), led by former trade unionist Néstor Cerpa Cartolini, took some 800 people belonging to the Peruvian political, social and economic hierarchy hostage at the residence of the Ambassador of Japan. in Peru.

The crisis aroused international attention in the following months. The kidnappers denounced the serious situation of human rights violations in Peruvian prisons and demanded the release of various MRTA prisoners. The Holy See sent Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, then Archbishop of Ayacucho, as a negotiator, and the release of most of the hostages was achieved, leaving only 72 of them in captivity. The International Red Cross was accepted by the members of the MRTA as the competent organization to guarantee food and health care for the hostages.

The crisis ended in April 1997, when in a surprise action, through a military operation, 71 of the 72 hostages still held captive were freed. The military action called Chavín de Huántar, was organized in secret and implied access to the Japanese ambassador's residence through specially constructed underground tunnels. The events were broadcast from the beginning live and direct in Peru and in various countries around the world via CNN and other foreign television channels. In the operation it was reported that two commandos, a hostage and the 14 terrorists had died. Fujimori used the success of the operation to consolidate his support among the population at a time when increasing allegations of corruption and undermining were beginning to appear.

Control of the media

Since 1992, he has been accused of initiating an intervention in television channels and newspapers to obtain their support for his government and the concealment of acts of corruption. In this way, most of the directors of newspapers were bribed the main media in the country, with which they lost credibility as they were almost always favorable to the regime. In charge of this policy was the intelligence adviser Vladimiro Montesinos, who would be the government's strong man from the shadows.

Several cases of threats and intimidation of journalists were reported. Those most critical of the government, such as César Hildebrandt, were fired and plans for their assassination were even denounced, under the name Plan Narval. In May 1997, Peruvian citizen Baruch Ivcher, owner of the Frecuencia Latina channel - until then close to the government - had his Peruvian nationality withdrawn (in 2007, Caretas magazine published evidence that this withdrawal of nationality was not illegal). In addition, Ivcher was forced to leave the country, due to his opposition to the dismissal of the members of the Constitutional Court.

He was also accused of financing small newspapers (the so-called Prensa chicha), whose main characteristic was to show opponents of Fujimorato on their front pages in a mocking manner.

War and peace with Ecuador

Since their birth as independent republics at the beginning of the 19th century, and until 1998, both countries showed discrepancies about their border limits in regions between the Amazon basin and the Andes mountain range. The problems in the delimitation of borders with Peru, Ecuador received inherited from the time when it belonged to Gran Colombia, becoming acute on three occasions (1941, 1981 and 1995) and leading to generally short wars. For a century and a half, the conflict became the main factor that hindered the strengthening of Peruvian-Ecuadorian trade relations. At the beginning of 1995, there was an armed conflict with Ecuador over the northeastern border region known as the Cordillera del Cóndor. In March of that year, a ceasefire was signed at the Itamaraty presidential palace in Brasilia. In the following years there was a rather tense situation in relations between Peru and Ecuador. After the arrival of Jamil Mahuad to the Ecuadorian presidency in August 1998, negotiations began with Ecuador to obtain a definitive solution to the conflict. In October 1998, the Brasilia Act was signed, in which Ecuador and Peru accepted the fixing of the border in a stretch of 78 kilometers in accordance with an opinion of the guarantors of the Rio de Janeiro Protocol. In a symbolic act, Peru ceded to Ecuador as private property (that is, without any sovereignty) a square kilometer of land where Tiwinza is located. The treaty was opposed by various members of the government and the military leadership, which had to be reorganized as a result. Likewise, the opposition denounced a manipulative and insincere handling of the conflict with Ecuador.

Elections of 2000

Starting in the late 1990s, the Fujimori government faced increasing unpopularity as numerous cases of corruption were discovered, economic difficulties returned, and his intentions to perpetuate himself in power became clear. In September 1998, the congress (in which Fujimori's supporters had an absolute majority) dismissed the request for annulment of the Authentic Interpretation Law.

Fujimori presented himself as a candidate for the 2000 general elections without previously renouncing his investiture as President of the Republic. After a proselytizing campaign marred by accusations of fraud, and with the musical background of "El ritmo del Chino", the elections take place in April, in which the economist Alejandro Toledo, leader of the political movement Perú Posible, and which would later unite the opposition groups around itself.

After the first round, opponent Alejandro Toledo announced that he would not know the results in the face of "a process so flawed and so irregular" that it would not lead to a second round. In the same way, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Transparency association and various European ambassadors denounced the official data. The United States government, European ambassadors and the OAS representative Eduardo Stein called for a second round, at the same time that they denounced irregularities in the official computing system. The observation missions of Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands maintained that Fujimori's candidacy was unconstitutional, and that State resources had been "abusively and large scale placed at the service of a candidate".

In the second round, which took place in May, Alberto Fujimori was elected. Following Fujimori's victory, his detractors incited protests and on July 28, during Fujimori's inauguration, the March of the Four Theirs led by Alejandro Toledo took place., the infiltration of thugs to disorganize it was denounced and a fire occurred at a Banco de la Nación headquarters, in which 6 of its employees died. It was speculated that the government had ordered the fire to start, since the facilities completely collapsed despite being made of noble material, and in the clashes between the police vehicles and the protesters the destructive magnitude necessary to destroy a building was not given. to the point that the Banco de la Nación remained.

"An important contingent of citizens does not match our proposals. That is foreseeable in the democratic game. However, respecting those discrepant opinions, we must admit that there is no democracy in the world in which minorities are governed, however respectable they are. Less still than the unelected, or those candidates for congressmen who have obtained a minimum number of votes. That does not exist anywhere in the world, except in Peru."

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori,
28 July 2000.

Third Government (2000)

Vladivideos

Some time after starting his third term in 2000 and through the purchase of a video by opposition groups, evidence of the acts of corruption carried out during his government by Montesinos came to light on September 14 of that year, your closest collaborator. It was through hidden camera videos that Montesinos installed and in which he appeared bribing members of other parties to support Fujimori. At that moment the last crisis of his government broke out; Fujimori gave a surprising message to the nation on September 16, where he announced the deactivation of the SIN and the call for new general elections, both for the election of a president and a new congress of the Republic. In these elections, he indicated that he would not actively participate as a candidate.

(...) Therefore, after a deep reflection and objective assessment of the situation, I have taken the decision: first, to deactivate the National Intelligence System, and secondly to convene, in the medium term possible, general elections — the latter I hope will be welcomed and understood, in its real context by the competent agencies. In those general elections — no matter what it is to say — the speaker will participate, but all those who feel capable of exercising the first judiciary or congressional functions.

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori,
16 September 2000.

Fujimori dismissed Montesinos from his formal position as advisor, thanking him for the services he rendered, in an act that sparked outrage among many citizens. In addition, Fujimori personally delivered 15 million dollars in cash to Montesinos as compensation. Soon after, Montesinos traveled to Panama seeking political asylum, which was never granted. On October 23, he returned by surprise, which sparked a new scandal. On October 29, Montesinos furtively left the country again, aboard the sailboat "Karisma", finally arriving in hiding in Venezuela.

Abandonment of office

In the midst of political pressure and the instability of his presidency, Fujimori, in his capacity as President of Peru, traveled on November 13 to the APEC Summit in Brunei. At the end of this conference, he planned to go through Kuala Lumpur to then arrive in Tokyo and from there embark on a trip to Panama for the X Ibero-American Summit. However, Fujimori did not stay for the closing of APEC and traveled to Singapore, while rumors were circulating in Peru that Fujimori would be asking for political asylum in Malaysia, news that was immediately denied by the Government Palace. Fujimori then traveled to Tokyo, where he stayed at the luxurious New Otani hotel, also telling Agence France-Presse that he "does not want to be a factor of disturbance" in Peru.

From the Japanese capital, he faxed to the President of the Congress of the Republic his formal resignation from the Presidency and then sent a message to his supporters, announcing that he was resigning from the Presidency of the country:

"I have returned to question the country ' s convenience of my presence and participation in this transition process. And I have come to the conclusion that I must formally relinquish the Presidency of the Republic, a situation that contemplates our Constitution, in order, in this way, to open up a stage of definitive political tension that allows an orderly transition and, somewhat less important, to preserve the solidity of our economy."

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori,
19 November 2000.

Recall by Congress

Given the unusualness of the event and the various scandals discovered, the Congress of the Republic decided to reject the resignation (which, due to the lack of ministerial endorsement, was legally null) and declared the Presidency of the Republic vacant, citing "moral incapacity permanent" and disqualified him from holding any public office for a period of 10 years.

"Article 1.- Define the permanent moral incapacity of the President of the Republic, citizen Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, as set out in article 113 (2) of the Peruvian Constitution.
Article 2°- The Presidency of the Republic ' s vacance should be declared, and the rules of succession established by article 115 of the Constitution of Peru should apply."

Legislative resolution,
21 November 2000.

"In accordance with article 100 of the Constitution, and considering the seriousness of the facts denounced against the former President of the Republic, Alberto Fujimori Fujimori and the obvious constitutional infractions in which he has committed, it is imperative to exercise the powers of the Congress of the Republic set out in article 100 of the Constitution, to impose exemplary sanction, has resolved:

To disable Don Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, former President of the Republic, for the exercise of every public service for ten years."

Legislative resolution,
23 February 2001.

The special public prosecutor representing the Ministry of Justice, José Ugaz, requested and obtained the freezing of the accounts of Vladimiro Montesinos, other former government officials and businessmen linked to them, abroad: 140 million dollars in Switzerland, 64 in the Cayman Islands, 20 in the United States and about 4 million in other countries; as well as 18 million in Peru itself; however, no account has been found so far in the name of Alberto Fujimori or his closest relatives.

After his government

Exile in Japan and beginning of the extradition process

From the moment of his resignation and subsequent dismissal and until his arrest in Chile, Fujimori lived in Japan, where Japanese nationality was recognized as the son of Japanese parents.

The new Peruvian government transferred to Japan the request of the Peruvian judicial authorities requesting the extradition of Fujimori, but the Japanese government protected the former president until the end. Japan never ruled on the extradition request, in charge of the Peruvian authorities; a situation that remained until Fujimori traveled to Chile. However, despite the fact that Japan has never made an official statement, it is known that Japanese legislation prohibits the extradition of its citizens to third countries. The National Prosecutor at that time, Nelly Calderón Navarro, insisted on the need for Japan to extradite Fujimori and said that otherwise they would resort to the International Criminal Court.

In 2002, the Berne Federal Office of Justice (OFI) reported that Peru's anti-corruption prosecutor, Julio Arbizú, was on tour in Bern to track down frozen accounts belonging to people politically exposed to Fujimorismo funds and who were repatriated to Lima. Over the past 15 years, a total of 1.7 billion Swiss francs have been returned.

The Foreign Minister of Peru, on March 14, 2005, during his speech before the UN Human Rights Commission, stated: "The Government of Peru reiterates its invocation to the Government of Japan to contribute to access to justice, authorizing the extradition of former President Alberto Fujimori". Since he was imposed self-exile, Alberto Fujimori maintained that the entire process followed against him was due to political revenge , with accusations based on accounts from third parties, who have not provided objective evidence to the contrary. hers.

In 2005, after negotiations with the leaders of the Fujimorist parties, a new alliance was established between Nueva Mayoría and Cambio 90 called Alianza por el Futuro and invited the Sí Cumple Movement (formerly Vamos Vecino) to participate, which had not been able to register Fujimori's own candidacy, with which it was understood that presenting both candidacies was a strategy to attempt a new Fujimori candidacy for the presidency of Peru. Finally, who represented Fujimorismo, in the 2006 general elections, was the former president of Congress Martha Chávez, obtaining almost one million votes at the national level, equivalent to 10% of the total votes according to the results of the ONPE. Said alliance also placed 13 congressmen, being elected Fujimori's eldest daughter, Keiko Fujimori, congressman with the highest vote of said election.

Travel, detention and extradition from Chile

On November 6, 2005, Fujimori arrived in Santiago de Chile from Tokyo, aboard a private flight, having entered this country with a Peruvian passport (with which he chose to use Peruvian as his active nationality and Japanese as passive nationality). The following day he was arrested by order of a minister of the Chilean Supreme Court, who issued a prior arrest warrant against him, after a request from the Embassy of Peru in Chile (case Case No. 5646-2005).

Meanwhile, in Lima, an urgent Council of Ministers was convened to evaluate the new situation presented so unexpectedly, which was chaired by President Alejandro Toledo, who made the decision to send a commission to the Chilean capital, to in order to start the extradition process for Fujimori to Peru, so that he could be prosecuted for the crimes that he was accused of between 1990 and 2000.

Prior to his arrival in Chile, Fujimori reportedly passed through Tijuana, Mexico, but was not detained, which later led to the firing of the head of the Interpol section in Tijuana. Carlos Abascal, Mexican Secretary of the Interior (Interior), explained that it had been impossible to arrest him because there was no extradition order from the Peruvian government. It was later said that Fujimori had used his Japanese passport, and that the warrant issued by Interpol was based on the data contained in his Peruvian passport. The same happened with the Chief of Interpol in Peru, who did not answer the calls of the Chilean Interpol.

The extradition process to Peru formally began on January 6, 2006, through a request filed by the Embassy of Peru in Chile before the Chilean Supreme Court. After his arrest, as of November 7, 2005 and Until May 18, 2006, Fujimori was detained at the Chilean Gendarmerie School.

On May 18, 2006, the Supreme Court of Chile granted Fujimori freedom on bail, after having been detained for more than half a year, although with an arrest warrant that prevented him from leaving Chilean territory while the procedure was in progress..

While awaiting the ruling on the extradition and having Japanese nationality as passive, Fujimori decided to accept to run as a candidate for the Senate of Japan, by the far-right political group called Kokumin Shintō (Japanese: "New People's Party"). The elections were held on July 29, 2007 and were a total failure for the candidate Fujimori, who did not obtain any parliamentary representation.

On July 11, 2007, the minister of the Supreme Court of Chile, and judge in the case against Fujimori, Orlando Álvarez, rejected the extradition request requested by the Peruvian State, on the grounds that the crimes were not sufficiently proven. Given this, the Government of Peru filed an appeal before the same Supreme Court, whose knowledge and resolution corresponds to the criminal chamber (Case No. 3744-2007). In August of the same year, house arrest was decreed, following a request from a representative of Peru.

On the morning of September 21, 2007, Alberto Chaigneau, president of the second chamber (Criminal Chamber) of the Chilean Supreme Court, announced that Fujimori's extradition request had been accepted, one month after the final arguments of the parties before the court. Chaigneau reported that 7 of the 13 accusations for crimes presented against Fujimori were approved: five for corruption cases, whose vote was divided and approved by majority; and two for violations of human rights (against humanity), approved unanimously. The judgment of the Supreme Court of Chile, dated September 21, 2007, consists of 212 pages.

Trials in Peru

On September 22, 2007, Alberto Fujimori was extradited to Peru, by decision of the Supreme Court of Chile, to respond to various accusations before the Peruvian courts. The plane that transported him first landed at 1:20 p.m. in Tacna, then at 4:40 p.m. at the Las Palmas de Surco Air Base in Lima. Subsequently, he was transferred and detained in the Directorate of Special Operations (Diroes) of the National Police of Peru. Shortly after, the first trial against the defendant Fujimori began, for the illegal search, at the end of his government, of the house of his adviser Vladimiro Montesinos, which was carried out usurping the authority of the judiciary.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, José Antonio García Belaúnde, assured that the Government will not lend itself to a media spectacle while the trial to which Alberto Fujimori will be subjected lasts.

On December 10, 2007, the trial against Alberto Fujimori began in Lima for the events known as the "Barrios Altos" and "La Cantuta" massacres.

On December 11, 2007, the Special Criminal Chamber, chaired by César San Martín Castro, sentenced Alberto Fujimori Fujimori in first instance to six years in prison and two additional years for the crime of usurpation of functions and abuse of authority for having participated as inducer in the search of the residence of Trinidad Becerra (ex-wife of Vladimiro Montesinos). According to the sentence, the defendant Fujimori will not be able to hold any public office and must pay a reparation of 400,000 soles. On April 8, 2009, the First Transitory Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court reaffirmed the sentence, dismissing the request presented by the former president to have the ruling annulled.

On April 7, 2009, he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison as the "mediate author of the commission of the crimes of qualified homicide, murder under the aggravating circumstance of treachery to the detriment of the students de La Cantuta and the Barrios Altos case". Likewise, the Court found him guilty of aggravated kidnapping, under the aggravating circumstance of cruel treatment, to the detriment of the journalist Gustavo Gorriti and the businessman Samuel Dyer Ampudia. The Special Criminal Chamber determined that the sentence had expired on February 10, 2032.

On July 20, 2009, the Supreme Court of Peru sentenced Fujimori to another 7 and a half years in prison after being found guilty of "intentional embezzlement, appropriation of funds and ideological falsehood to the detriment of the State". Fujimori admitted to giving $15 million to his former adviser Vladimiro Montesinos from Treasury funds, although he claimed that he did so to prevent Montesinos from carrying out a coup and that the money was later returned. However, since it was not possible to prove the origin of the returned money (whose bills were of different denominations) and given Fujimori's apparent apathy in preventing Montesinos' escape, the Court determined that Fujimori committed two other punishable acts: facilitating Montesinos' escape and return an unexplained amount. The Chamber flatly ruled out the two extenuating circumstances of the defense: the late restitution of the amount and the bribery of Vladimiro Montesinos to defuse an alleged plot.

On September 30, 2009, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the cases of wiretapping, paying congressmen, and buying the editorial line of the media during his regime; the former ruler was found guilty of the crimes against the public administration, fraudulent embezzlement to the detriment of the State, corruption of officials, generic active bribery to the detriment of the State and against freedom, violation of the secrecy of communications, interference or wiretapping. Likewise, he was disqualified from holding any public office for two years and ordering the payment of a civil compensation of 24 million 60 thousand 216 nuevos soles in favor of the State. Similarly, Fujimori was ordered to pay three million nuevos soles to each of the 28 aggrieved by the same concept.

On January 2, 2010, the sentence to 25 years in prison for human rights violations was confirmed.

Despite all the accusations and convictions against him, 59% of Peruvians in urban areas were in favor of a pardon according to a survey published in October 2012, while others conducted the following year support is reduced to only 40%.

On May 3, 2016, the Constitutional Court of Peru rejects the annulment of the conviction of Alberto Fujimori. Alberto Fujimori will continue in prison for 25 years, which was imposed for responsibility in the massacres of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta.

On February 20, 2018, the National Criminal Chamber ruled that the resolution granting Fujimori the right to pardon for humanitarian reasons was not applied. For this reason, the former president had to face the process for the Pativilca Case with a simple appearance.

Pardon

On December 24, 2017 at 6:00 p.m., the then President of the Republic Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced the acceptance of the request for humanitarian pardon for the release of Fujimori. However, on October 3, 2018 it was determined that he must return to prison to serve his entire sentence. Finally, on January 23, 2019, after being hospitalized for 113 days in a local clinic, he is taken to the prison.

Bill and possible house arrest

In addition to an appeal, after the annulment of the pardon granted by Kuczynski, the block of Kenji Fujimori in Parliament presented a bill that sought the early release of prisoners over 80 years of age. Yeni Vilcatoma would present a bill that proposes that older adults, from 65 to 75 years old, who have completed a third of their sentences, can serve house arrest. On October 12, 2018, the Fujimorist majority of Fuerza Popular in the Peruvian Congress, in opposition to the Government of Martín Vizcarra, approved the project.

Return to prison

On January 23, 2019, Fujimori was transferred again to the Barbadillo prison, in the Ate district, where he was interned from 2007 to 2017 serving his sentence before being pardoned. The former president was discharged from the Centennial Clinic after a medical board from the Institute of Legal Medicine evaluated him and determined that he is stable and that he can receive treatment for his ailments.

New pardon

On March 17, 2022, he was released from his sentence thanks to the habeas corpus presented by the lawyer Gregorio Parco Alarcón and declared founded by the Constitutional Court (TC). TC is mentioned:

1. The object of the demand is that Resolution 10, dated 3 October 2018, issued by the Supreme Court of Preparatory Research (Conventional Control) (f. 3) be declared null and void, stating that it lacks legal effects, pardon for humanitarian reasons granted to Alberto Fujimori Fujimori (Expediente 00006-2001-4-5001-SU-PE-01), and as a result, its immediate release is available. The violation of the rights to personal liberty is alleged and not subjected to torture or inhuman or humiliating treatment.

Constitutional Court, based on the expert text of Gregorio Fernando Parco Alarcón.

Three of the TC magistrates, Ernesto Blume, José Luis Sardón and Augusto Ferrero Costa, voted to declare the writ of habeas corpus founded in favor of Fujimori. Three other magistrates opposed the pardon: Marianella Ledesma, Eloy Espinosa-Saldaña and Manuel Miranda. In his capacity as president of the TC, Augusto Ferrero exercised the casting vote. The Constitutional Court, with that decision, resolved:

1. Declaring FUNDADA the demand for habeas corpus.

2. Declaring NULAS Resolution 10, dated 3 October 2018; Resolution 46, dated 13 February 2019 and Resolution 48, dated 13 February 2018, for being vitied of incompetence and violating due motivation.

3. Replace the effects of Supreme Resolution 281-2017-JUS of December 24, 2017.

4. To have the immediate freedom of the favored, Alberto Fujimori Fujimori.

Constitutional Court

The pardon has been questioned by a group of experts from the United Nations Organization on human rights, César Landa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and former president of the Constitutional Court of Peru during 2006 and 2008, lawyer Carlos Rivera, defender of the victims of the La Cantuta massacre and the Barrios Altos massacre. On March 30, 2022, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court HR) requested the Government of Pedro Castillo to suspend the judgment of the Constitutional Court.

Convictions received

He was convicted of various crimes by the Peruvian Judiciary. Initially, Fujimori was found guilty of illegal trespassing at the home of Trinidad Becerra, wife of Vladimiro Montesinos, and sentenced to six years in prison. Then, on April 7, 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his responsibility for the crimes of murder with treachery, aggravated kidnapping and serious injuries after being found guilty of the intellectual responsibility for the massacres in Barrios Altos, in 1991, and La Cantuta., in 1992, committed by an army squad known as the Colina group, as well as the kidnapping of a businessman and a journalist. Fujimori appealed the sentence, but it was ratified in January 2010. Finally, on July 20, 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to another seven and a half years in prison after being found guilty of fraudulent embezzlement, appropriation of public funds and ideological falsehood to the detriment of the State.

He has received a total of five sentences:

Documentaries

• Since the beginning of 2000, a production team of the Biography Channel chain arrived in Peru and conducted a series of interviews with various close and scholarly characters of the Fujimori regime, including Chema Salcedo, Luis Jochamowitz, Juan Carlos Hurtado Miller, and President Fujimori himself, to carry out an account of his government. The documentary Alberto Fujimori. Tsunami Fujimori was released on 26 May 2002.
• In 2005, Ellen Perry published the documentary The Fall of Fujimori (The Fall of Fujimori), which was premiered at the national level in Peru and internationally around the world. He had a great success of criticism and was acclaimed worldwide, and received a rating of "Fresco" of 92% in Rotten Tomatoes.
• In May 2016 the audiovisual producer Bergman was right Films released free of charge the documentary His name is Fujimoridirector Fernando Vílchez, who shows a retrospective of Fujimorato. The premiere was part of the campaign against fujimorism during the 2016 General Elections.

In fiction

In the 1999 American film Embassy Panic, which is based on the 1996 Japanese embassy hostage crisis, Robert Ito plays Fujimori, but under the name of President Fujimoro.

He also appears in Francisco Lombardi's films Blind Eyes and Black Butterfly.

Positions held

Predecessor: Rector UNALM	Rector of the University of Agraria La Molina 1984-1989	Successor: Alfonso Flores Mere Rector UNALM
Predecessor: Manuel Zevallos Vera President ANR	President of the National Assembly of Rectors 1987-1989	Successor: Carlos Chirinos Villanueva President ANR