A State in Legends
One of the most eventful and captivating political lives in world history, intertwined with the sophistication and baseness of democracy and autocracy, corruption, crime, fear, and courage, has come to an end. Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, has passed away. His name is very familiar to those interested in international politics.
Fujimori was the child of an immigrant family that began working in cotton fields in Lima, the capital of Peru. After studying and advancing through educational administrative ranks, he became the president of a university. His leap to run for the presidency of Peru in 1990 was astonishing, and in the limited polls of that year, he received no serious support. Nonetheless, he eventually overcame his main rival and, to everyone’s surprise, became the president of his country. His rival is certainly more well-known in Iran than he is: Mario Vargas Llosa, the famous poet and prominent figure in Latin American literature, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010.
Fujimori inherited a country with numerous crises, widespread crime to the extent that street bombings had become commonplace, and 8,000% inflation. Through numerous reforms, he gradually brought the country to relative stability. However, his approach leaned towards autocracy. He not only dissolved the country’s parliament but abolished it and established a replacement legislative structure that amended the constitution in his favor, allowing him to serve two consecutive terms. His handpicked forces even arranged a third term for him, but with the exposure of his and his appointees’ corruption, he was forced to flee Peru in 2000. He went to his ancestral country, Japan, and faxed his resignation.
Years later, in 2006, Fujimori entered Chile to launch a new movement for the Peruvian presidential elections but was arrested by Chilean authorities and handed over to Peruvian officials. In court, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for various crimes, yet he continued his political efforts from the special prison where he was held.
Keiko, Fujimori’s daughter, who is a member of the Peruvian Congress, has run for the presidency three times and lost by a narrow margin. These campaigns indicate the relative popularity of the Fujimori family in Peru. Alberto Fujimori was recently pardoned due to his severe health condition.