Peruvian government declares mourning after Fujimori's death | Political news

Fujimori's legacy remains hotly contested in Peru, where he was convicted of corruption and serious human rights violations.

The Peruvian government has declared three days of national mourning following the death of controversial former President Alberto Fujimori.

President Dina Boluarte signed a decree for a period of mourning on Thursday, a day after Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and human rights abuses during his term in office, died at the home of his daughter Keiko Fujimori in the capital Lima.

“This morning the national flag was lowered to half-mast in the Legislative Palace due to the death of former President of the Republic Alberto Fujimori,” Diario Oficial El Peruano, the country’s official daily, reported on Thursday.

Fujimori's body will rest in the Ministry of Culture in Lima until Saturday and will then be transferred to a cemetery south of the capital. The news portal Peru 21 published photos on social media showing supporters lining up in front of the Ministry of Culture to pay their last respects.

Rebels of the Shining Path

In death as in life, Fujimori polarized Peru. His supporters credit him with rebuilding the Andean nation's economy through a series of harsh neoliberal reforms and crushing the Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), which had terrorized the country for years.

He did so through a brutal counterinsurgency campaign that included widespread human rights abuses and contributed to Fujimori's growing authoritarianism, including a “self-coup” in 1992 that paralyzed Congress and the judiciary. His economic reforms have also been criticized for their severe impact on the country's poor.

The Peruvian civil war between the government and various rebel groups is estimated to have claimed at least 70,000 lives.

Fujimori's government also saw human rights violations, including a campaign of forced sterilizations against women in the country's poor, predominantly indigenous regions.

Montesinos scandal

Fujimori fled into exile in Japan after his deposition in 2000. The scandal was based on bribery and corruption and also affected his notorious intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.

Fujimori was eventually arrested during a visit to Chile in 2005 and extradited to Peru in September 2007. He was accused of being involved in ordering murders and kidnappings during his time in office.

He was tried and convicted in 2009 for crimes related to the killing of 25 people by death squads. The killings targeted left-wing militants as well as activists and civilians.

Fujimori was released from prison by a Peruvian court in December 2023, contrary to an order by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

On social media, hashtags ranging from #FujimoriNuncaMas (Never again Fujimori) to #FujimoriPorSiempre (Forever Fujimori) underscore the divisions that still exist in Peruvian society more than two decades after he fled the country and resigned by fax from Japan.

Critics pointed out that Fujimori died on the same day of the year as Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman, who died in prison in 2021. His capture by state security in 1992 was a major success in the government's efforts to dismantle the feared group.

Fujimori's daughter Keiko, a former lawmaker and presidential candidate herself, said in July that her father would run for president in 2026, even though he would then be in his late 80s.