Peru’s incredibly notorious President, Alberto Fujimori, received a 7.5 year sentence for charges of embezzlement last week. This was his second sentencing in the 6-months we were in Peru. He received 25 years for human rights violations back in April.
The history of Fujimori and his family is long and complicated.
When I’ve asked Peruvians about him, they have all started with the good that he did for the country. (Squelching a super violent, domestic terrorist organization, stabilizing the economy, building schools, health clinics, and homes.) Peruvians also quickly follow this up by conceding that Fujimori also did lots of very bad things. (Bribing, embezzling, authorizing masked death squads and secret military courts, shutting down Congress and the Judicial system when they continually voted against his extreme measures, carrying out a forced sterilization campaign against poor women.)
Like I said, it’s long and complicated. Another complication to the story is the fact that, while President, Fujimori’s instated his oldest daughter, Keiko, as first lady after he had stripped the title from his wife… after the wife had announced that she was running against him in the next election. This propelled Keiko into the political spotlight.
While Fujimori was falling from favor, going into exile in Japan, returning to South America and being captured, and then being detained in Chile… Keiko went to business school in Boston. She returned and was elected to a seat in the Peruvian Congress in 2006. And now she is planning on running for President in 2011.
Here’s the kicker. Keiko is expected to be a major contender for President based the platform of pardoning her father. Peruvians are still yearning for Fujimori-esque social programs and reforms. It’s mind boggling that they would forget about the injustices, but this also makes sense when you peruse some of the living conditions in between and just outside of the tourist towns.
These big “Keiko Fuerza 2011” and “Fujimori Libertad” signs line the Panamerican Highway from Tacna to Tumbes, and follow the major routes inland to Cusco and Puno. Fuerza means “force” or “strength”. Libertad means “freedom”. (I never got a picture of them myself, so I had to grab this one from Flickr!)
