Alberto Fujimori

How to explain Fujimori to someone who hasn't lived in Peru? He was a famous and renowned Peruvian president, who suddenly decided to resign the presidency while in Japan... by sending a fax (later he sent a hard copy to the Peruvian Embassy in Japan). Why was the Peruvian Government asking Japan for his extradition? Why didn't the Japanese Government accepted to do that? Why is he in Chile now?

To answer some of those questions, we have to go back to 1990 and before. By then, Peru was finishing one of the worst presidential periods its people has ever seen. In words of Wikipedia: "Alan García (born May 23, 1949 in Lima) was President of Peru from 1985 to 1990. His presidency was marked by bouts of hyperinflation, social turmoil, human rights violations, increasing violence, increase of blackouts in Lima, international financial isolation, a failed attempt to confiscate the 2 main banks and economic downturn". Let me give you just one macroeconomic figure, so you can see what we're talking about: Inflation. In 2004 Peru had an inflation of about 3.5%, the USA had 2.5%, Brazil 7.6% and Malaysia 1.3%. During the whole Garcia presidency (5 years), Peru had an accumulated inflation of... 2,200,000%!!! (yes, two million two hundred thousand percent!!!)

Fujimori inherited a country in a very bad shape and he decided that, in order to solve the critic (economic and social) problems quickly, he had to fight the cancer by cutting on the healthy tissue. And he did. He chose Vladimiro Montesinos as his personal advisor and effective head of the Intelligence Agency and, taking some measures that wouldn't be accepted on a fully democratic regime, he accomplished (among others) the following:

• Peru was reinserted in the global economic system and attracted foreign investment
• International currency reserves were built up from nearly zero (at the end of García's term in office) to almost USD$10 billion a decade later
• Total GDP growth between 1992 and 2001, inclusive, was 44.60%
• FAO reported Peru reduced undernourishment by about 29% from 1990-92 to 1997-99
• End the fifteen-year reign of terror of Sendero Luminoso and the arrest of their leader, Abimael Guzmán
• Solution of the Japanese Embassy Hostage Crisis
• Signature of a Peace Treaty with Ecuador, after a century of border dispute

So, if Fujimori did so much good, why does the Government want to send him to jail?

This is a tricky question, and I'll try to answer it dividing Peruvian people in the following groups:

Traditional politicians (and their entourage)
They lost most of their power when Fujimori was in charge of the presidency. They are in charge of the country again and, controlling the Congress, they are making this their political vendetta.

Younger than 28 years old (who were 13 or younger at the end of Garcia's government)
They don’t remember how hard were the living conditions before Fujimori, taking all the good he did as granted. So, if all the good is not extraordinary, they will fight all the bad. As I mentioned before, Fujimori took many measures that would be considered as illegal or non-democratic during his presidency, and the young people consider he must be judged (in a trial) by what he did.

People who suffered from Fujimori's policies (people who lost their jobs, a relative, etc.)
Many people lost their governmental jobs after the privatization process started by Fujimori (people who were not prepared to work on an open market environment), and many other were shot dead on anti-terrorism raids by the military forces (even though the great percentage of deaths caused by the armed forces occurred during the two previous governments)

People who benefited from Fujimori's policies (stable social environment, increased security, stable economic conditions, etc.)
We're not talking about the people who benefited illegally when Fujimori was in charge, but about all the people who enjoyed a better lifestyle then, than when Alan Garcia. These people benefited from foreign investments, studied in pacified universities, and enjoyed the increased security in the country.

It's easy to understand that the first three groups would like to see Fujimori in a court. The fourth, of course, would like to see him back in the presidency. In fact, Fujimori's approval rate remains in 15-20%, while president Toledo's approval is well bellow 8%

After his resignation, Fujimori remained in self-imposed exile in Japan, country from which he can not be extradited because he has Japanese citizenship (his parents registered him with the Japanese consular authorities in Peru as an infant). Several senior Japanese politicians have supported Fujimori, partly because of what they consider his decisive action in ending the 1997 Japanese embassy crisis.

Despite being safe in Japan, on November 6th Fujimori arrived in Santiago de Chile on a private aircraft and was arrested 12 hours later. What is he doing there? Why did he decide to travel to a Peruvian neighboring country? Was he actually trying to arrive to Peru, as he purposely proclaimed many times, in order to participate in the 2006 national elections? Only time will tell.