Alberto Fujimori

Biography

Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, engineer, professor, and television presenter who served as president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. Born in the Miraflores district of Lima, he was the son of Japanese immigrants and became Peru's first president of Japanese descent. Before politics, Fujimori was an academic, working as an agronomist and university administrator, eventually becoming rector of the National Agrarian University. He also gained public attention by hosting a television program called Getting Together before unexpectedly entering politics.

Fujimori became president in 1990 as a political outsider, defeating novelist Mario Vargas Llosa in a runoff under his Cambio 90 movement. He took over a country struggling with hyperinflation, economic collapse, and the violent Shining Path insurgency. To stabilize the economy, he introduced strict neoliberal policies, known as the Fujishock, which reduced inflation but caused significant difficulties for ordinary Peruvians. He also formed a close, ultimately harmful relationship with Vladimiro Montesinos, the head of the National Intelligence Service, which helped him consolidate power.

In April 1992, Fujimori carried out a self-coup, dissolving Congress and the Supreme Court with military support, effectively becoming a dictator. This move attracted strong international criticism but kept significant domestic support, especially from business sectors and parts of the public tired of instability. A new constitution was created in 1993 and passed by referendum, allowing him to run for reelection. His government's efforts against the Shining Path successfully captured its leader, Abimael Guzmán, in 1992, which Fujimori saw as a major achievement. However, this campaign also included atrocities like the Barrios Altos massacre and La Cantuta killings by the Colina Group, a military death squad under his administration.

Fujimori's government also ran a forced sterilization program targeting indigenous and rural women, affecting an estimated 270,000 to 300,000 people. His presidency ended in 2000 after videos showed Montesinos bribing opposition politicians, starting a political crisis. Fujimori fled to Brunei, then Japan, from where he faxed his resignation. He was extradited from Chile in 2007 and convicted in Peru for human rights violations and corruption, receiving a 25-year prison sentence. He died on 11 September 2024 in San Borja, Lima, after being released from prison in 2023 due to a humanitarian pardon.