LIMA, Peru – Alberto Fujimori, whose decade-long presidency began with the triumph of stabilizing Peru’s economy and quelling a violent insurgency but ended in disgrace due to autocratic excesses that led to his imprisonment, has died at the age of 86.
Fujimori was pardoned in December for his convictions related to corruption and his responsibility for the murders of 25 people. In July, his daughter announced that he was contemplating a fourth presidential run in 2026.
A former university president and mathematics professor, Fujimori rose from obscurity to defeat writer Mario Vargas Llosa in Peru’s 1990 elections. He inherited a country beset by rampant inflation and guerrilla violence, and he revitalized the economy through bold measures such as mass privatizations of state-owned industries. His decisive actions against the Shining Path rebels garnered him widespread support.
Alberto Fujimori, who served as Peru’s president from 1990 to 2000, was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison for orchestrating the killings of 25 Peruvians during the government’s battle against the Shining Path communist insurgents. These charges initiated prolonged legal battles.
Despite being incarcerated in a prison on the outskirts of Lima, Peru’s capital, Fujimori has continued to pursue political ambitions. In July, his daughter Keiko announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2026. Fujimori has yet to clarify how he plans to circumvent a Peruvian law that prohibits individuals convicted of corruption from running for the positions of president or vice-president.