Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, has died at the age of 86 after a prolonged battle with cancer, according to his daughter’s post on X.
“After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has just departed to meet the Lord. We ask those who loved him to accompany us with a prayer for the eternal rest of his soul. Thanks for so much dad! Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori,” daughter Keiko Fujimori said.
Early life
He was born July 28, 1938, coinciding with Peruvian Independence Day, and his immigrant parents picked cotton until they could open a tailor’s shop in downtown Lima, AP News agency reported.
He earned a degree in agricultural engineering in 1956, and then studied in France and the United States, where he received a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.
In 1984 he became rector of the Agricultural University in Lima, and six years later, he ran for president without ever having held political office, billing himself as a clean alternative to Peru’s corrupt, discredited political class.
Political career
Fujimori’s presidency, spanning from 1990 to 2000, was marked by significant events. He inherited a country plagued by hyperinflation and guerrilla violence, which he addressed through bold economic reforms and the defeat of the Shining Path rebels.
However, his government collapsed in 2000 due to a corruption scandal involving his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos. Fujimori sought exile in Japan, his parents’ country of origin, and later faced arrest in Chile and extradition to Peru.
Imprisoned for 25 years
In 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights crimes, becoming the first democratically elected Latin American president to be convicted of such offenses in his own country, Reuters reported.
The charges stemmed from his role in ordering military death squads to carry out two massacres that claimed 25 lives during his presidency, amidst the conflict with communist guerrillas that resulted in nearly 70,000 deaths over two decades in Peru.
2026 presidential election
He had been pardoned in December. Despite his conviction, Fujimori’s daughter announced in July that he planned to run for Peru’s presidency for the fourth time in 2026.
“My father and I have talked and decided together that he will be the presidential candidate,” Keiko Fujimori, leader of the right-wing Fuerza Popular party, said on social networks, as per AP news agency.
However, Peruvian law prohibits individuals found guilty of corruption from running for the office of president or vice president.
“After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has just departed to meet the Lord. We ask those who loved him to accompany us with a prayer for the eternal rest of his soul. Thanks for so much dad! Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori,” daughter Keiko Fujimori said.
Early life
He was born July 28, 1938, coinciding with Peruvian Independence Day, and his immigrant parents picked cotton until they could open a tailor’s shop in downtown Lima, AP News agency reported.
He earned a degree in agricultural engineering in 1956, and then studied in France and the United States, where he received a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.
In 1984 he became rector of the Agricultural University in Lima, and six years later, he ran for president without ever having held political office, billing himself as a clean alternative to Peru’s corrupt, discredited political class.
Political career
Fujimori’s presidency, spanning from 1990 to 2000, was marked by significant events. He inherited a country plagued by hyperinflation and guerrilla violence, which he addressed through bold economic reforms and the defeat of the Shining Path rebels.
However, his government collapsed in 2000 due to a corruption scandal involving his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos. Fujimori sought exile in Japan, his parents’ country of origin, and later faced arrest in Chile and extradition to Peru.
Imprisoned for 25 years
In 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights crimes, becoming the first democratically elected Latin American president to be convicted of such offenses in his own country, Reuters reported.
The charges stemmed from his role in ordering military death squads to carry out two massacres that claimed 25 lives during his presidency, amidst the conflict with communist guerrillas that resulted in nearly 70,000 deaths over two decades in Peru.
2026 presidential election
He had been pardoned in December. Despite his conviction, Fujimori’s daughter announced in July that he planned to run for Peru’s presidency for the fourth time in 2026.
“My father and I have talked and decided together that he will be the presidential candidate,” Keiko Fujimori, leader of the right-wing Fuerza Popular party, said on social networks, as per AP news agency.
However, Peruvian law prohibits individuals found guilty of corruption from running for the office of president or vice president.
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