ReutersFormer Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of human rights violations and corruption, has died at the age of 86.
Fujimori ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000 before being ousted amid corruption allegations.
He was praised by many for the tough stance he took when left-wing guerrillas were on the verge of seizing power.
But his war against the rebels also led to serious human rights abuses, including the killing of 25 people by government-backed death squads, and he received a long prison sentence.
EPAIn a testament to the support he still enjoys more than two decades after leaving office, tearful Peruvians began gathering outside his home as soon as his four children announced his death.
Some shouted “Alberto Fujimori, national hero!”
Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori had earlier issued a joint statement saying, “After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has passed away and gone to be with the Lord.”
Fujimori’s physician, Jose Carlos Gutierrez, confirmed that the former president had been diagnosed with “tongue cancer” and died “from complications of the illness at approximately 6 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT)” on Wednesday.
Fujimori’s staunch supporters praise him for saving Peru from the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels, but thousands of victims caught up in the armed conflict denounce him as a dictator and brutal leader.
They recalled how under his administration death squads killed rebels and those suspected of supporting rebels.
The son of Japanese immigrants, he was first elected president at the height of the rebel uprising.
His government ultimately succeeded in defeating the brutal Maoist rebel group, the Path of Light, but at a heavy human cost.
An estimated 69,000 people died as a result of his dictatorial repression.
His tenure was marked by many dramatic twists and turns.
He led Peru to one of its most economically stable periods with a radical austerity package known as the “Fuji Shock,” and was praised for putting the economy back on track and tame soaring inflation.
In 1992, two years after taking office, Fujimori prorogued Congress, accusing lawmakers of preventing him from taking measures the country needed, a move that was condemned as undemocratic and dictatorial.
One of the key events during President Fujimori’s term that cemented his reputation for tough rhetoric and action was the hostage crisis of 1996-97.
Marxist rebels belonging to the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) stormed the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima, taking 72 hostages.
After a four-month stalemate, President Fujimori sent in special forces to seize the building, and his decisiveness was widely praised when all 14 rebels were killed and almost all of the hostages were rescued.
However, after 10 years in office, he fled the country amid allegations of corruption.
He sought asylum in Japan but then returned to Chile, where he was arrested and extradited to Peru.
He was first convicted of embezzlement and then, while already in prison, of human rights violations that primarily targeted poor indigenous communities.
Last December, Fujimori was released from Lima’s Barbadillo prison after Peru’s Constitutional Court reinstated a presidential pardon issued six years ago.
Getty ImagesHis daughter Keiko was one of his most vocal defenders throughout his life and is his political successor.
She is the leader of Peru’s conservative political party, People Power, and has run for president three times, following in her father’s footsteps.
In July, she announced that she would support her father’s candidacy for president in 2026, a statement that came as a surprise since he was 87 years old at the time.
GettyFollowing his death, she is widely expected to become the party’s presidential nominee.
She said her father would be buried on Saturday, adding that supporters would be offered the opportunity to walk past his coffin at the national museum in the capital, Lima, before that.
The Peruvian government declared three days of national mourning.
