By Canadian Press

Alberto Fujimori, a former president of Peru who was convicted for human rights abuses, dies at 86

Sep 11, 2024 | 5:42 PM

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Alberto Fujimori, whose decade-long presidency began with triumphs righting Peru’s economy and defeating a brutal insurgency only to end in a disgrace of autocratic excess that later sent him to prison, has died. He was 86.

His death Wednesday in the capital, Lima, was announced by his daughter Keiko Fujimori in a post on X.

He had been pardoned in December from his convictions for corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people. His daughter said in July that he was planning to run for Peru’s presidency for the fourth time in 2026.

The former university president and mathematics professor emerged from obscurity to win Peru’s 1990 elections over writer Mario Vargas Llosa. He took over a country ravaged by runaway inflation and guerrilla violence, mending the economy with bold actions including mass privatizations of state industries. He also defeated fanatical Shining Path rebels, winning him broad-based support.

Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison for being the mastermind behind the slayings of 25 Peruvians while the government fought the Shining Path communist rebels. The accusations against him led to years of legal wrangling.

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Life inside a prison built on the outskirts of Peru’s capital, Lima, did not stop Fujimori from seeking political revindication. In July, daughter Keiko announced that he intended to run for the presidency in 2026. He never explained how he would overcome a Peruvian law that bans anyone found guilty of acts of corruption from running for the office of president or vice president.

Franklin Briceño, The Associated Press