Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who was pardoned in December despite being sentenced in 2009 to serve 25 years in prison for “crimes against humanity”, died last Tuesday at the age of 86 in Lima, announced his children via X.

“After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, left to meet the Lord. We ask those who loved him to pray with us for the eternal repose of his soul. Thanks for everything Dad!” Keiko, Hiro, Sachi and Kenhi Fujimori said in a statement.

The son of Japanese immigrants, the former dean of a rural university was relatively unknown when he took office in 1990. He promoted neoliberal reforms and escalated the war against Maoists and other far-left guerrilla groups operating in Peru. He was accused of concentrating power in his hands — his opponents called him a dictator.

During his days, the leader of the Shining Path organization, Abimael Guzmán, was arrested, a development that dealt a heavy blow to the rebels who in the 1980s seemed to be approaching victory in the war with the Peruvian state.

Abimael Guzmán died in prison in 2021.

While parts of the Western press praised him for successful reforms, especially privatization, tackling hyperinflation and stabilizing the economy, domestically he was criticized for his authoritarian lapses: sending tanks to shut down Congress in 1992, revising the Constitution against will, the enforcement of draconian “anti-terrorist” legislation…

A series of corruption scandals during his ten-year rule turned public opinion against him. Shortly after he won a third term in 2000, videos emerged showing his close associate, intelligence chief Vladimir Montesinos, handing out cash to politicians. Then-President Fujimori fled to Japan—always retaining the citizenship of his home country—where he submitted his resignation by fax. He then ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Japanese Senate.

Vladimiro Montesinos was later arrested in Venezuela and imprisoned. He was practically convicted because of the hundreds of videos he filmed himself bribing politicians, businessmen, media owners…

The indictment against former President Fujimori gradually grew heavier: he allegedly ordered death squads to operate in the context of the civil war.

While he was safe in Japan, which generally does not extradite its nationals to any other state, he shocked supporters and opponents when in 2005 he decided to return to Peru, hoping to secure a pardon and make a grand comeback in politics. life of the Latin American country.

Arrested in Chile, he was extradited to Peru in 2007 and in 2009 was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.