Editing Alberto Fujimori (section)

==Presidency (1990–2000)==

=== First term ===

==== 1990 general election ====
{{see also|Plan Verde}}
During the first presidency of [[Alan García]], the economy had entered a period of [[hyperinflation]] and the political system was in crisis due to the country's internal conflict, leaving Peru in "economic and political chaos".<ref name="lp">Benson, Sara and Hellander, Paul and Wlodarski, Rafael. ''[[Lonely Planet]]: Peru''. 2007, pp. 37–38.</ref> The [[armed forces of Peru|armed forces]] grew frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises and began to draft ''[[Plan Verde]]'' as a plan to overthrow his government.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Burt |first=Jo-Marie |date=September–October 1998 |title=Unsettled accounts: militarization and memory in postwar Peru |journal=[[NACLA|NACLA Report on the Americas]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=35–41 |doi=10.1080/10714839.1998.11725657 |quote=the military's growing frustration over the limitations placed upon its counterinsurgency operations by democratic institutions, coupled with the growing inability of civilian politicians to deal with the spiraling economic crisis and the expansion of the Shining Path, prompted a group of military officers to devise a coup plan in the late 1980s. The plan called for the dissolution of Peru's civilian government, military control over the state, and total elimination of armed opposition groups. The plan, developed in a series of documents known as the "Plan Verde," outlined a strategy for carrying out a military coup in which the armed forces would govern for 15 to 20 years and radically restructure state-society relations along neoliberal lines.}}</ref><ref name="Alfredo">{{cite book |author=Alfredo Schulte-Bockholt |title=The politics of organized crime and the organized crime of politics: a study in criminal power |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7391-1358-5 |pages=114–118 |chapter=Chapter 5: Elites, Cocaine, and Power in Colombia and Peru |quote=important members of the officer corps, particularly within the army, had been contemplating a military coup and the establishment of an authoritarian regime, or a so-called directed democracy. The project was known as 'Plan Verde', the Green Plan. ... Fujimori essentially adopted the Green Plan and the military became a partner in the regime. ... The self-coup, of April 5, 1992, dissolved the Congress and the country's constitution and allowed for the implementation of the most important components of the Green Plan}}</ref> According to Rospigliosi, lawyer and friend of Fujimori, [[Vladimiro Montesinos]] was not initially involved with the ''Plan Verde'', but his ability to resolve issues for the military resulted with the armed forces tasking Montesinos with implementing the plan with Fujimori,<ref name="LF">{{Cite book |last=Rospigliosi |first=Fernando |title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista |publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos |year=1996 |location=Lima, Peru |pages=46–47}}</ref> Both General {{ill|Nicolás de Bari Hermoza|es|Nicolás Hermoza}} and Montesinos were responsible for the relationship between the armed forces and Fujimori.<ref name="Alfredo" /> [[Mario Vargas Llosa]], Fujimori's final opponent in the election, later reported that [[United States Ambassador to Peru]], [[Anthony C. E. Quainton]], personally told him that allegedly leaked documents of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) purportedly being supportive of Fujimori's candidacy were authentic.<ref name="REND1">{{Cite book |last=Rendón |first=Silvio |title=La intervención de los Estados Unidos en el Perú |publisher=Editorial Sur |year=2013 |isbn=9786124574139 |pages=145–150}}</ref> Rendón writes that the United States supported Fujimori because of his relationship with Montesinos, who had previously been charged with spying on the Peruvian military for the CIA.<ref name="Alfredo" /><ref name="REND1" />

During the second round of elections, Fujimori originally received support from left-wing groups and those close to the García government, exploiting the popular distrust of the existing Peruvian political establishment and the uncertainty about the proposed [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]]{{POV statement|date=September 2024}} economic reforms of his opponent, novelist Mario Vargas Llosa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ortiz Pinchetti |first=Francisco |date=14 April 1990 |title=La frugalidad de "Cambio 90" y el derroche de Fredemo |url=http://www.proceso.com.mx/154825/la-frugalidad-de-cambio-90-y-el-derroche-de-fredemo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920122715/http://www.proceso.com.mx/154825/la-frugalidad-de-cambio-90-y-el-derroche-de-fredemo |archive-date=20 September 2018 |access-date= |website=[[Proceso (magazine)|Proceso]]}}</ref> Fujimori won the 1990 presidential election as a [[dark horse]] candidate under the banner of [[Cambio 90]], defeating Vargas Llosa in a surprise result. He capitalized on profound disenchantment with outgoing president [[Alan García]] and the [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance]] party (APRA).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bridge |first1=Sarah |title=Alberto Fujimori: Profile of the former Peruvian president who was jailed today for abuse of authority |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/12/1 |access-date=11 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=12 December 2007}}</ref>

During the campaign, Fujimori was nicknamed ''"el chino''," which translates to "the Chinese guy" or "the [[Chinaman]]"; it is common for people of any East Asian descent to be called ''chino'' in Peru, as elsewhere in Spanish-speaking Latin America, both derogatorily and affectionately. Although he was of Japanese heritage, Fujimori suggested that he was always pleased by the nickname, which he perceived as a term of affection.<ref>Interview with Fujimori, in Ellen Perry's ''The Fall of Fujimori''</ref> With his election victory, he became the third person of East Asian descent to serve as presidency of a South American state, after President [[Arthur Chung]] of Guyana and [[Henk Chin A Sen]] of Suriname.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ignacio López-Calvo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMY4-ffumwUC&pg=PA213 |title=The Affinity of the Eye: Writing Nikkei in Peru |publisher=University of Arizona Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8165-9987-5 |page=213 |access-date=27 December 2017 |archive-date=22 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122231104/https://books.google.com/books?id=mMY4-ffumwUC&pg=PA213#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Economic shock ====
According to news magazine [[Oiga (magazine)|''Oiga'']], the armed forces finalized plans on 18 June 1990 involving multiple scenarios for a [[coup d'état]] to be executed on 27 July 1990, the day prior to Fujimori's inauguration.<ref name="PV">{{Cite journal |date=12 July 1993 |title=El "Plan Verde" Historia de una traición |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/310286817/El-Plan-Verde |journal=Oiga |volume=647 |access-date=4 August 2021 |archive-date=8 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008233742/https://www.scribd.com/document/310286817/El-Plan-Verde |url-status=live }}</ref> The magazine noted that in one of the scenarios, titled "Negotiation and agreement with Fujimori. Bases of negotiation: concept of directed Democracy and Market Economy", Fujimori was to be directed on accepting the military's plan at least 24 hours before his inauguration.<ref name="PV" /> Fernando Rospigliosi states "an understanding was established between Fujimori, Montesinos and some of the military officers" involved in the ''Plan Verde'' prior to Fujimori's inauguration.<ref name="DI">{{Cite journal |last=Avilés |first=William |date=Spring 2009 |title=Despite Insurgency: Reducing Military Prerogatives in Colombia and Peru |journal=[[Latin American Politics and Society]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=57–85 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2009.00040.x |s2cid=154153310}}</ref> Montesinos and SIN officials ultimately assumed the armed forces' position in the plan, placing SIN operatives into military leadership roles.<ref name="LF" /> Fujimori went on to adopt many of the policies outlined in the ''Plan Verde''.<ref name="Alfredo" /><ref name="DI" /> Fujimori was sworn in as president on 28 July 1990, allegedly his 52nd birthday.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Statesman's Yearbook: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World 1994–1995 |publisher=De Gruyter |editor-last=Hunter |editor-first=Brian |location=Berlin |pages=1082 |chapter=Peru}}</ref>

[[File:Firma del Protocolo sobre cláusulas pendientes del Tratado de 1929.jpg|thumb|left|Fujimori (center) on the signature of the Protocol on outstanding clauses of the [[Treaty of Lima (1929)|1929 Treaty of Lima]] with Chile, 13 November 1999]]
[[File:Visit of Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, to the CEC.jpg|thumb|left|Fujimori with [[President of the European Commission]] [[Jacques Delors]] in Brussels, 21 October 1991]]
After taking office, Fujimori abandoned the economic platform he promoted during his campaign, adopting more aggressive neoliberal policies than those espoused by Vargas Llosa, his opponent in the election.<ref name="gouge32">Gouge, Thomas. ''Exodus from Capitalism: The End of Inflation and Debt''. 2003, p. 363. {{ISBN?}}</ref> During his first term in office, Fujimori enacted wide-ranging neoliberal reforms, known as the ''Fujishock''. It was Fujimori's stated objective to pacify the nation and restore economic balance. This program bore little resemblance to his campaign platform and was in fact more drastic than anything Vargas Llosa had proposed.<ref name="gouge3">Gouge, Thomas. ''Exodus from Capitalism: The End of Inflation and Debt''. 2003, p. 363.</ref> [[Hernando de Soto (economist)|Hernando de Soto]], the founder of one of the first neoliberal organizations in Latin America, the [[Institute for Liberty and Democracy]] (ILD), began to receive assistance from the U.S. government under [[Ronald Reagan]], with the [[National Endowment for Democracy]]'s Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) providing his ILD with funding and education for advertising campaigns.<ref name="RA">{{Cite book |last=Pee |first=Robert |title=The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the Transition to Democracy Promotion |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-3319963815 |pages=178–180}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pee |first=Robert |title=The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the Transition to Democracy Promotion |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-3319963815 |pages=168–187}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Timothy |date=2005 |title=The work of economics: how a discipline makes its world |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=299–310 |doi=10.1017/S000397560500010X |doi-access=free}}</ref> Between 1988 and 1995, de Soto and the ILD were mainly responsible for some four hundred initiatives, laws, and regulations that led to significant changes in Peru's [[economic system]].<ref name="AP">{{cite news |last1=Brooke |first1=James |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=27 November 1990 |title=A Peruvian Is Laying Out Another Path |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/27/world/a-peruvian-is-laying-out-another-path.html |access-date=26 September 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409002407/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/27/world/a-peruvian-is-laying-out-another-path.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.theglobalist.com/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=32 The Globalist {{!}} Biography of Hernando de Soto] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911100830/http://www.theglobalist.com/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=32|date=11 September 2006}}</ref> Under Fujimori, de Soto served as "the President's personal representative", with ''[[The New York Times]]'' describing de Soto as an "overseas salesman" for Fujimori in 1990, writing that he had represented the government when meeting with [[creditors]] and United States representatives.<ref name="AP"/> Others dubbed de Soto as the "informal president" for Fujimori.<ref name="RA"/> De Soto proved to be influential to Fujimori, who began to repeat de Soto's advocacy for deregulating the Peruvian economy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 March 1991 |title=Peru's Fujimori Weighs In On Behalf of Street Sellers Nation's informal economy is protected in president's economic plan |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref> The [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) was content with Peru's measures, and guaranteed loan funding for Peru.<ref name="gouge">Gouge, Thomas. ''Exodus from Capitalism: The End of Inflation and Debt''. 2003, p. 364.</ref> [[Inflation]] rapidly began to fall and foreign investment capital flooded in.<ref name="gouge" />
Nonetheless, the ''Fujishock'' restored Peru to the global economy, though not without immediate social cost; international business participated in [[crony capitalism]] with the government.<ref name="manz">Manzetti, Luigi. ''Privatization South American Style''. 1999, p. 235.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 November 2000 |title=Fujimori Resigns |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fujimori-resigns-1.1116883 |access-date=25 March 2023 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |archive-date=29 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329205323/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fujimori-resigns-1.1116883 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[privatization]] campaign involved selling off of hundreds of [[state-owned enterprises]], and replacing the country's troubled currency, the [[Peruvian inti|inti]], with the [[Peruvian nuevo sol|nuevo sol]].<ref name="lp" /> Fujimori's initiative relaxed [[private sector]] [[price controls]], drastically reduced government [[subsidies]] and government employment, eliminated all [[exchange controls]], and also reduced restrictions on investment, imports, and [[capital (economics)|capital]].<ref name="manz" /> [[Tariff]]s were radically simplified, the [[minimum wage]] was immediately quadrupled, and the government established a US$400 million poverty relief fund.<ref name="manz" /> The latter seemed to anticipate the economic agony to come: the price of electricity quintupled, water prices rose eightfold, and gasoline prices 3,000%.<ref name="gouge3" /><ref name="manz" />

==== Military regime ====
{{Main|1992 Peruvian self-coup}}
During Fujimori's first term in office, [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance|APRA]], Vargas Llosa's party, and the [[Democratic Front (Peru)|Democratic Front]] remained in control of both chambers of [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress]]—then composed of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate—hampering the enactment of economic reform. Fujimori also had difficulty combating the [[Shining Path]] due largely to what he perceived as intransigence and obstructionism in Congress. By March 1992, the Congress met with the approval of only 17% of the electorate, according to one poll; in the same poll, the president's approval stood at 42%.<ref name=smith234>Smith, Peter H. ''Latin America in Comparative Perspective: New Approaches to Methods and Analysis''. 1995, p. 234.</ref>

Fujimori and his military handlers had planned for a coup during his preceding two years in office.<ref name="LAgolpe1">{{cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Maxwell A. |date=June 1998 |title=Latin American Autogolpes: Dangerous Undertows in the Third Wave of Democratisation |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |page=228 |doi=10.1080/01436599814433 |quote=the outlines for Peru's presidential coup were first developed within the armed forces before the 1990 election. This Green Plan was shown to President Fujimori after the 1990 election before his inauguration. Thus, the president was able to prepare for an eventual self-coup during the first two years of his administration}}</ref><ref name="Alfredo"/><ref name="PV" /> In response to the political deadlock, Fujimori, with the support of the military, carried out a [[1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis|self-coup]] on 5 April 1992,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Fujimori's coup and the breakdown of democracy in Latin America |last=Kenney |first=Charles D. |url=http://www.bibliovault.org/BV.book.epl?BookId=5885 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |isbn=0-268-03171-1 |access-date=13 February 2008 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225024050/https://www.bibliovault.org/BV.book.epl?BookId=5885 |url-status=live}}</ref> Congress was shut down by the military, the constitution was suspended and the judiciary was dissolved.<ref>Levitsky, Steven "Fujimori and Post-Party Politics in Peru", ''Journal of Democracy''. 10(3):78</ref> Without political obstacles, the military was able to implement the objectives outlined in Plan Verde<ref name="Alfredo"/><ref name="LAgolpe1" /><ref name="PV" /> while Fujimori served as president to project an image that Peru was supporting a [[liberal democracy]].<ref name="Multi-Ref">
* {{cite journal |last1=McMillan |first1=John |last2=Zoido |first2=Pablo |date=Autumn 2004 |title=How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru |journal=[[The Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume=18 |issue=4 |page=69 |doi=10.1257/0895330042632690 |s2cid=219372153 |quote=In the 1990s, Peru was run ... by its secret-police chief, Vladimiro Montesinos Torres. |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=10419/76612}}
* {{cite news |last=Vargas Llosa |first=Mario |date=27 March 1994 |title=Ideas & Trends: In His Words; Unmasking the Killers in Peru Won't Bring Democracy Back to Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/27/weekinreview/ideas-trends-in-his-words-unmasking-the-killers-in-peru-wont.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329205329/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/27/weekinreview/ideas-trends-in-his-words-unmasking-the-killers-in-peru-wont.html |archive-date=29 March 2023 |access-date=24 March 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=The coup of April 5, 1992, carried out by high-ranking military felons who used the President of the Republic himself as their figurehead, had as one of its stated objectives a guaranteed free hand for the armed forces in the anti-subversion campaign, the same armed forces for whom the democratic system – a critical Congress, an independent judiciary, a free press – constituted an intolerable obstacle.}}
* {{cite web |date=August 2002 |title=Spymaster |url=https://www.journeyman.tv/film_documents/1368/transcript/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329205327/https://www.journeyman.tv/film_documents/1368/transcript/ |archive-date=29 March 2023 |access-date=29 March 2023 |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |quote=Lester: Though few questioned it, Montesinos was a novel choice. Peru's army had banished him for selling secrets to America's CIA, but he'd prospered as a defence lawyer – for accused drug traffickers. ... Lester: Did Fujmori control Montesinos or did Montesinos control Fujimori? ... [[Michael Shifter|Shifter]]: As information comes out, it seems increasingly clear that Montesinos was the power in Peru.}}
* {{cite news |last=Keller |first=Paul |date=26 October 2000 |title=Fujimori in OAS talks PERU CRISIS UNCERTAINTY DEEPENS AFTER RETURN OF EX-SPY CHIEF |quote=Mr Montesinos ... and his military faction, ... for the moment, has chosen to keep Mr Fujimori as its civilian figurehead |work=[[Financial Times]]}}
* {{cite web |date=2001 |title=THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN THE ANDES |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/Crisis%20Dem%20Gov%20Rpt%20on%20Amer%202.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404221922/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/Crisis%20Dem%20Gov%20Rpt%20on%20Amer%202.pdf |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=25 March 2023 |website=[[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]] |quote=Alberto Fujimori,... as later events would seem to confirm—merely the figurehead of a regime governed for all practical purposes by the Intelligence Service and the leadership of the armed forces}}
* {{cite news |date=9 January 2001 |title=Questions And Answers: Mario Vargas Llosa |url=https://www.newsweek.com/questions-and-answers-mario-vargas-llosa-150783 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329205322/https://www.newsweek.com/questions-and-answers-mario-vargas-llosa-150783 |archive-date=29 March 2023 |access-date=25 March 2023 |work=[[Newsweek]] |quote=Fujimori became a kind of, well, a figurehead}}</ref><ref name="PI">{{cite journal |last1=Calderón Bentin |first1=Sebastián |date=January 2018 |title=The Politics of Illusion: The Collapse of the Fujimori Regime in Peru |journal=[[Theatre Survey]] |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=84–107 |doi=10.1017/S0040557417000503 |s2cid=233360593 |access-date= |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Vladimiro Montesinos]] would go on to adopt the actual function of Peru's government.<ref name="PI" />

The coup was well received by the public, with Fujimori's approval rating jumping significantly in the wake of the coup.<ref name="smith236">Smith, Peter H. ''Latin America in Comparative Perspective: New Approaches to Methods and Analysis''. 1995, p. 236.</ref><ref name="Levitt">
{{cite news |author=Barry S. Levitt |date=2006 |title=A desultory defense of democracy: OAS Resolution 1080 and the Inter-American Democratic Charter. (Organization of American States) |work=Latin American Politics and Society |pages=93–123 |volume=48 |issue=3}}</ref> Fujimori often cited this public support in defending the coup, which he characterized as "not a negation of real democracy, but on the contrary... a search for an authentic transformation to assure a legitimate and effective democracy".<ref name=smith236/> Fujimori believed that Peruvian democracy had been nothing more than "a deceptive formality—a façade".<ref name=smith236/> He claimed the coup was necessary to break with the deeply entrenched [[Advocacy group|special interests]] that were hindering him from rescuing Peru from the chaotic state in which García had left it.<ref>{{cite web|language=es|url=http://www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1992-1.pdf|title=Mensaje a la nación del presidente del Perú, ingeniero Albert Fujimori Fujimori|date=5 April 1992|publisher=Peruvian National Congress|access-date=26 September 2006|archive-date=23 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623135142/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1992-1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Fujimori's coup was immediately met with near-unanimous condemnation from the international community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Long |first=William R. |date=1993-04-03 |title=A Year Later, Peru's Leader Defends Coup |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-03-mn-18655-story.html |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=smith236 /> The [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) denounced the coup and demanded a return to "[[representative democracy]]",<ref name= smith238>Smith, Peter H. ''Latin America in Comparative Perspective: New Approaches to Methods and Analysis''. 1995, p. 238.</ref> despite Fujimori's claim that the coup represented a "popular uprising".<ref name=smith236/> Foreign ministers of OAS member states reiterated this condemnation of the ''autogolpe''.<ref name=Levitt/> They proposed an urgent effort to promote the reestablishment of "the democratic institutional order" in Peru.<ref>{{cite news|author=Organization of American States (OAS)|date=1992|title=Ser. G MRE/RES 1/92 April 13}}</ref> Negotiations between the OAS, the government, and opposition groups initially led Fujimori to propose a referendum to ratify the auto-coup, but the OAS rejected this. Fujimori then proposed scheduling elections for a Democratic Constituent Congress (CCD), which would draft a new constitution to be ratified by a national referendum. Despite a lack of consensus among political forces in Peru regarding this proposal, an ''ad hoc'' OAS meeting of ministers nevertheless endorsed this scenario in mid-May. Elections for the [[Democratic Constituent Congress]] were held on [[1992 Peruvian Democratic Constituent Congress election|22 November 1992]].<ref name=Levitt/>

Various states individually condemned the coup. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations, and Argentina withdrew its ambassador. Chile joined Argentina in requesting Peru's suspension from the [[Organization of American States]]. International lenders delayed planned or projected loans, and the United States, Germany, and Spain suspended all non-humanitarian aid to Peru.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Return of the caudillo: autocratic democracy in Peru |journal=Third World Quarterly |date=1997 |volume=18 |issue=5 |page=899 |doi=10.1080/01436599714650 |url=https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/5323732.pdf |access-date=12 September 2024 |last1=Mauceri |first1=Philip }}</ref> Fujimori, in turn, later received most of the participants of the [[November 1992 Venezuelan coup attempt]] as political [[asylee]]s, who had fled to Peru after its failure.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Márquez |first1=Laureano |title=Historieta de Venezuela: De Macuro a Maduro |last2=Eduardo |first2=Sanabria |publisher=Gráficas Pedrazas |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-7328777-1-9 |edition=1st |page=142 |chapter=La democracia pierde energía |author-link=Laureano Márquez}}</ref>

[[Peru–United States relations]] earlier in Fujimori's presidency had been dominated by questions of [[coca eradication]] and Fujimori's initial reluctance to sign an accord to increase his military's eradication efforts in the lowlands. Fujimori's ''autogolpe'' became a major obstacle to relations, as the United States immediately suspended all military and economic aid, with exceptions for counter-narcotic and humanitarian funds.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cameron|first1=Maxwell A. |last2=Mauceri|first2=Philip|title=The Peruvian Labyrinth|year=1997|page=216}}</ref> Two weeks after the self-coup, the [[George H. W. Bush]] administration changed its position and officially recognized Fujimori as the legitimate leader of Peru, partly because he was willing to implement economic austerity measures, but also because of his adamant opposition to the [[Shining Path]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Mobile Selves: Race, Migration, and Belonging in Peru and the U.S.|author=Ulla D. Berg|page=214|publisher=NYU Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1479896097|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XM76CQAAQBAJ}}</ref>

On 13 November 1992, General {{ill|Jaime Salinas Sedó|es}} attempted to overthrow Fujimori in a [[1992 Peruvian coup attempt|failed military coup]]. Salinas asserted that his intentions were to turn Fujimori over to be tried for violating the constitution.<ref>{{cite book |last=Conaghan |first=Catherine M. |title=Fujimori's Peru: Deception in the Public Sphere |year=2006 |page=55}}</ref>

=== Second term ===
{{Main|1995 Peruvian general election}}
The 1993 Constitution allowed Fujimori to run for a second term, and in April 1995, at the height of his popularity, Fujimori easily won reelection with almost two-thirds of the vote. His main opponent, former [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary-General]] [[Javier Pérez de Cuéllar]], won only 21 percent of the vote. Fujimori's supporters won comfortable majority in the new [[unicameral]] [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress]]. One of the first acts of the new congress was to declare an amnesty for all members of the [[Peruvian Armed Forces|military]] and [[Law enforcement in Peru|police]] accused or convicted of [[human rights]] abuses between 1980 and 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lum.cultura.pe/cdi/documento/fujimori-signs-amnesty-law-fujimori-firma-ley-de-amnist%C3%ADa|title=Fujimori signs amnesty law|publisher=Peruvian Ministry of Culture|access-date=27 December 2017|author=National Security Archive|date=15 June 1995|archive-date=28 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228054330/http://lum.cultura.pe/cdi/documento/fujimori-signs-amnesty-law-fujimori-firma-ley-de-amnist%C3%ADa|url-status=live}}</ref>

During his second term, Fujimori and Ecuadorian President [[Sixto Durán Ballén]] signed a peace agreement over a [[History of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute|border dispute]] that had simmered for more than a century. The treaty allowed the two countries to obtain international funds for developing the border region. Fujimori also settled some issues with Chile, Peru's southern neighbor, which had been unresolved since the 1929 [[Treaty of Lima (1929)|Treaty of Lima]].<ref>Dominguez, Jorge ''et al.'' (2003) ''Boundary Disputes in Latin America'' [[United States Institute of Peace]], Washington, D.C., [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?u=1&num=33&seq=3&view=image&size=100&id=mdp.39015052976985 p. 33] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728054803/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?u=1&num=33&seq=3&view=image&size=100&id=mdp.39015052976985|date=28 July 2020}}, {{OCLC|53067610}}</ref>

The 1995 election was the turning point in Fujimori's career. Peruvians began to be more concerned about [[freedom of speech]] and the press. Before he was sworn in for a second term, he stripped two universities of their autonomy and reshuffled the national electoral board. This led his opponents to call him "Chinochet", a reference to his previous nickname and to Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The World Today Series: Latin America 2010 |last=Buckman |first=Robert T. |year=2010 |publisher=Stryker-Post Publications |location=[[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia]] |isbn=978-1-935264-12-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/latinamerica201000robe }}</ref> Modeling his rule after Pinochet, Fujimori reportedly enjoyed this nickname.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 May 2014 |title=Periodista peruano: A Fujimori le gustaba que lo llamaran "Chinochet" |url=https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/mundo/peru/alberto-fujimori/periodista-peruano-a-fujimori-le-gustaba-que-lo-llamaran-chinochet/2014-05-02/192054.html |work=[[Radio Cooperativa|Cooperativa]] |language=es |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202202603/https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/mundo/peru/alberto-fujimori/periodista-peruano-a-fujimori-le-gustaba-que-lo-llamaran-chinochet/2014-05-02/192054.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a poll by the Peruvian Research and Marketing Company conducted in 1997, 40.6% of Lima residents considered President Fujimori an authoritarian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judiciary Firmly Under Control in Fujimori's Peru |url=http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/06/1peru.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160105114022/https://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/06/1peru.cfm |archive-date=2016-01-05 |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.wcl.american.edu}}</ref><ref>Roger Atwood, 'Democratic Dictators: Authoritarian Politics in Peru from Leguia to Fujimori,' ''[[SAIS Review]]'', vol. 21, no. 2 (2001), p. 167. {{doi|10.1353/sais.2001.0030}}</ref><ref>Kurt Weyland, 'Neopopulism and Neoliberalism in Latin America: Unexpected Affinities,' ''[[Studies in Comparative International Development]]'', vol. 31, no. 3 (1996)</ref>

In addition to the fate of [[democracy]] under Fujimori, Peruvians were becoming increasingly interested in the myriad allegations of criminality that involved Fujimori and his chief of the [[National Intelligence Service (Peru)|National Intelligence Service]] (SIN), [[Vladimiro Montesinos]]. Using SIN, Fujimori gained control of the majority of the armed forces, with the ''[[Financial Times]]'' stating that "[i]n no other country in Latin America did a president have so much control over the armed forces".<ref name="FTWD2">{{cite book|title=[[Financial Times]] World Desk Reference|last1=Heritage|first1=Andrew|date= 2002|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|isbn=9780789488053|pages=462–465}}</ref>

A 2002 report by Health Minister [[Fernando Carbone Campoverde|Fernando Carbone]] later suggested that Fujimori was involved in the [[Compulsory sterilization#Peru|forced sterilizations]] of up to 300,000 indigenous women between 1996 and 2000, as part of a population control program.<ref name="Sterilization">{{cite news |date=24 July 2002 |title=Mass sterilization scandal shocks Peru |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2148793.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410103431/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2148793.stm |archive-date=10 April 2017 |access-date=30 April 2006 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> A 2004 [[World Bank]] publication said that in this period Montesinos's abuse of the power Fujimori granted him "led to a steady and systematic undermining of the [[rule of law]]".<ref>"State Society Interactions as Sources of Persistence and Change in Inequality" in ''Inequality in Latin America: Breaking With History?'' (World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Viewpoints). David De Ferranti, et al. [[World Bank Publications]]. 2004, p. 139</ref>

===Third term, flight to Japan and resignation===
{{main|2000 Peruvian general election}}
[[File:Al Fujimori.jpg|thumb|Fujimori in October 1998]]
By the arrival of the new millennium, Alberto Fujimori became increasingly authoritarian, strengthening collaboration with [[Vladimiro Montesinos]] and the [[National Intelligence Service (Peru)|National Intelligence Service]]. Shortly after Fujimori began his second term, his supporters in Congress passed a law of "authentic interpretation" which effectively allowed him to run for another term in 2000. A 1998 effort to repeal this law by referendum failed.<ref>{{cite book|author=David R. Mares|year=2001 |title=Violent Peace: Militarized Interstate Bargaining in Latin America|url=https://archive.org/details/violentpeace00mare|url-access=limited|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/violentpeace00mare/page/n176 161]}}</ref> In late 1999, Fujimori announced that he would run for a third term. The electoral authorities, which were politically sympathetic to Fujimori, accepted his argument that the two-term restriction did not apply to him, as it was enacted while he was already in office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peru's Chief to Seek 3rd Term, Capping a Long Legal Battle |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/122899peru-fujimori.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331002522/http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/122899peru-fujimori.html |archive-date=31 March 2017 |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref>

[[Exit polls]] showed Fujimori fell short of the 50% required to avoid an electoral runoff, but the first official results showed him with 49.6% of the vote, just short of outright victory. Eventually, Fujimori was credited with 49.9%—20,000 votes short of avoiding a runoff. Despite reports of numerous irregularities, the international observers recognized an adjusted victory of Fujimori. As voting is mandatory in Peru, Fujimori's primary opponent, [[Alejandro Toledo]], called for his supporters to spoil their ballots in the runoff by writing "No to fraud!" on them. The [[Organization of American States|OAS]] electoral observation mission pulled out of the country, saying that the process would be neither free nor fair.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peru – Parliamentary Chamber: Congreso de la República |url=https://data.ipu.org/election-summary/HTML/2251_00.htm |access-date=12 September 2024 |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union}}</ref>

In the runoff, Fujimori won with 51.1% of the total votes. While votes for Toledo declined from 37.0% of the total votes cast in the first round to 17.7% of the votes in the second round, invalid votes jumped from 8.1% of the total votes cast in the first round to 31.1% of total votes in the second round.<ref name=N1>{{cite book|author=Nohlen, D|author-link=Dieter Nohlen|year=2005|title=Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II|page=454|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-928358-3}}</ref> The large percentage of invalid votes in the election suggests widespread dissatisfaction with the electoral process among voters.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCaughan |first1=Michael |title=President of Peru beats absent rival |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/may/30/2 |access-date=12 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=30 May 2000 |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918003710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/may/30/2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although Fujimori won the runoff with only a bare majority (but 3/4 valid votes), rumors of irregularities led most of the international community to shun his third swearing-in on 28 July. For the next seven weeks, there were daily demonstrations in front of the [[Government Palace of Peru|presidential palace]]. As a conciliatory gesture, Fujimori appointed former opposition candidate [[Federico Salas]] as prime minister. Opposition parties in Congress refused to support this move, and Toledo campaigned vigorously to have the election annulled. At this point, a corruption scandal involving [[Vladimiro Montesinos]] broke out, and exploded into full force on the evening of 14 September 2000, when the cable television station [[Canal N]] broadcast footage of Montesinos apparently bribing opposition congressman [[Alberto Kouri]] to defect to Fujimori's [[Peru 2000]] party. The video was originally presented at press conference by [[Fernando Olivera (politician)|Fernando Olivera]] and [[Luis Iberico (politician)|Luis Iberico]] of the [[Independent Moralizing Front|FIM]] (Independent Moralizing Front); many other similar videos were released in the following weeks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Obando |first1=Manoel |title=A 24 años de los 'vladivideos': así fue la revelación que derrumbó al gobierno de Alberto Fujimori |url=https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/09/11/a-24-anos-de-los-vladivideos-asi-fue-la-revelacion-que-derrumbo-al-gobierno-de-alberto-fujimori/ |access-date=12 September 2024 |agency=Infobae |date=11 September 2024 |archive-date=12 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912011011/https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/09/11/a-24-anos-de-los-vladivideos-asi-fue-la-revelacion-que-derrumbo-al-gobierno-de-alberto-fujimori/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Fujimori's support virtually collapsed, and a few days later he announced in a nationwide address that he would shut down the SIN and call new elections, in which he would not be a candidate. On 10 November, Fujimori won approval from Congress to hold elections on 8 April 2001. 

On 19 November, government ministers presented their resignations en bloc. Fujimori's first vice president, [[Francisco Tudela]], had broken with Fujimori and resigned a few days earlier. This left second vice president [[Ricardo Márquez Flores]] as next in line for the presidency. Congress refused to recognize him, as he was an ardent Fujimori loyalist; Márquez resigned two days later. Paniagua was next in line, and became interim president to oversee the April 2001 elections.<ref name="LUM"/>