bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Peru has bid an emotional farewell to its divisive ex-president Alberto Fujimori after three days of national mourning marked by expressions of nostalgia for his iron-fisted rule.
Fujimori was revered by many in Peru for crushing a bloody leftist insurgency and helping shore up the economy while in office from 1990 to 2000.
He “had the guts to fight terrorism,” said Edgar Grados, a 43-year-old businessman, who travelled more than 100 kilometres to attend the funeral.
“Fujimorism never dies,” he said.
But for others, Fujimori was a power-hungry autocrat, who signed off on gross human rights abuses, for which he spent 16 years in prison.
The 86-year-old died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.
“You are finally free from hatred and revenge,” his daughter Keiko told his packed funeral mass on Saturday in Lima’s 1,500-capacity National Theatre, denouncing “16 years of unjust imprisonment.”

Mourners clapped and chanted “Chino, Chino,” Fujimori’s nickname which was a nod to his Asian heritage, although his family was originally from Japan.
A large portrait of the late leader wearing his presidential sash stood on the altar, next to his coffin, which was draped in the Peruvian flag.
Outside, hundreds of people, many carrying Fujimori dolls and pictures, followed the proceedings on a giant screen.
After the funeral, his coffin was received with state honours at the presidential palace in a ceremony led by President Dina Boluarte. He was buried afterwards at Huachipa, east of Lima.
While nearly a quarter of a century has passed since he dramatically faxed in his resignation from Japan in the midst of a corruption scandal, Fujimori loomed large over public life in Peru right up until his death.
Thousands of people queued for hours on Thursday and Friday to view him lying in state in an open casket at the culture ministry.
“We’re very nostalgic,” 30-year-old Jesus Neyra said on Friday night as he waited in line.
“A president who brought peace, economic stability, freedom and democracy to the country is gone. He left a great legacy.”


But relatives of the victims of army massacres carried out on his watch lamented that he went to the grave without showing remorse for their deaths.
“He left without asking forgiveness from their families, he made a mockery of us,” said Gladys Rubina, the sister of one of the civilian victims.
An engineer by training, Fujimori worked as a university maths professor before entering politics.
In 1990, he defeated writer Mario Vargas Llosa to win the presidency – a surprise result.
His neoliberal economic policies won him the support of the ruling class and international financial institutions.
He also won praise for crushing a brutal insurgency by Shining Path and Tupac Amaru leftist rebels in a conflict that left more than 69,000 people dead and 21,000 missing between 1980 and 2000, according to a government truth commission.
But the brutal tactics employed by the military saw him spend his twilight years in jail.
In 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison over two massacres of civilians by an army death squad tasked with fighting the Shining Path – one at a house party, the other in a university dormitory. In all 25 people were killed.

As recently as July, Fujimori had been considering a comeback attempt in the 2026 election, according to his daughter Keiko, also a politician.
But his health took a turn for the worse as he battled tongue cancer.
One of the most dramatic episodes of his presidency was a four-month hostage ordeal at the Japanese embassy in Lima in late 1996 and early 1997.
It ended with him sending in special forces, who saved nearly all 72 hostages and killed the 14 rebel hostage-takers.
His downfall began in 2000 after his spy chief was exposed for corruption.
Fujimori fled to Japan and sent a fax announcing his resignation. Congress voted to sack him instead.
He was eventually arrested when he set foot in Chile and was extradited to Peru, where he was put on trial and jailed.
In December 2017, then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned him on health grounds.
The Supreme Court later annulled the pardon and in 2019 he was returned to jail before finally being released nearly five years later.


China denies it was behind US Treasury hack

Donald Trump’s choice of Marco Rubio as top US diplomat leaves Latin America bracing

Venezuela opposition adviser holed up in Argentine residence calls it ‘prison’

‘Undercover Grinch’ captures suspected drug dealers in Peru

Peru

Peru’s controversial ex-president Fujimori buried after national mourning

People attend the funeral of ex-Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori in Huachipa in eastern Lima on September 14. Photo: AFP

Former Peru’s President Alberto Fujimori sits between his children Kenji and Keiko upon his release from a prison. Photo: AFP

Kenji Fujimori mourns near the casket of Peru’s ex-President Alberto Fujimori during his funeral service in Lima. Photo: Reuters

Venezuela arrests 6 foreigners accused of plotting to kill President Maduro

Weapons seized by Venezuelan authorities displayed at a press conference. Six foreigners have been detained in Venezuela on suspicion of plotting to attack President Nicolas Maduro. Photo: AFP

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaking at the presidential palace in August. Photo: AP

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced the arrest of six foreigners who were accused of plotting to destabilise the country. Photo: AFP

Brazil’s Lula fires human rights minister accused of sexual misconduct

Brazilian Minister of Human Rights Silvio Almeida was fired after allegations he sexually harrassed several women. File photo: AFP

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (right) says he dismissed Silvio Almeida pending an investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct. The human rights minister has denied all wrongdoing. File photo: AFP

Colombian President Petro slammed for branding women journalists ‘dolls of the mafia’

Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Americas

While Alberto Fujimori was hailed for crushing a leftist insurgency and boosting the economy, he was convicted of gross human rights abuses


While Alberto Fujimori was hailed for crushing a leftist insurgency and boosting the economy, he was convicted of gross human rights abuses.


Human rights

Crime