The legacy of Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and serious human rights violations, remains hotly contested in Peru.
The Peruvian government has announced three days of national mourning following the death of controversial former president Alberto Fujimori.
President Dina Boluarte signed a decree establishing a period of mourning on Thursday, the day after Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and human rights violations during his term in office, died at the home of his daughter Keiko Fujimori in the capital, Lima.
“The flag was flown at half-mast this morning at the Legislative Assembly following the death of former president of the republic, Alberto Fujimori,” the country’s state-run daily Diario Oficial El Peruno reported on Thursday.
“The body of Fujimori will lie in state at the Ministry of Culture in Lima until Saturday, when it will be moved to a cemetery in the south of the capital. Peru 21 posted photos on social media showing supporters lining up outside the ministry to pay their respects.
Shining Path Rebel
Fujimori has been a polarizing figure in Peru, both in life and after his death, with his supporters crediting him with reviving the economy through a series of tough neoliberal reforms and destroying the Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) that had terrorized the country for years.
He did this through a brutal counterinsurgency campaign that was accompanied by widespread human rights abuses and helped cement Fujimori’s authoritarianism, including a “self-coup” in 1992 that shut down parliament and the judiciary. His economic reforms have also been criticized for having a severe impact on the country’s poor.
At least 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the civil war between the Peruvian government and various rebel groups.
Fujimori’s regime also oversaw abuses, including a forced sterilization campaign, that targeted women living in poor and primarily indigenous areas.
The Montesinos Affair
Fujimori went into exile in Japan after being ousted in 2000 following a bribery and corruption scandal that also implicated the notorious intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.
Fujimori was arrested during a visit to Chile in 2005 and extradited to Peru in September 2007 to face charges of ordering murders and kidnappings during his leadership.
He was tried and convicted in 2009 on charges related to the death squad killings of 25 people, including left-wing militants, activists and civilians.
Fujimori was released by a Peruvian court in December 2023, contrary to an order from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
On social media, hashtags ranging from #FujimoriNuncaMas (Never Again Fujimori) to #FujimoriPorSiempre (Fujimori Forever) have highlighted divisions that remain in Peruvian society more than two decades after he fled the country and resigned by fax from Japan.
Critics noted with irony that Fujimori died on the same day as Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán, who died in prison in 2021. His arrest by state security forces in 1992 was a major victory in government efforts to dismantle the feared group.
Fujimori’s daughter Keiko, a former member of parliament and presidential candidate herself, said in July that her father would run for president in 2026, despite being in his late 80s.