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Fujimori Urges Peruvians to Set Aside ‘Grudges’ After His Release Fujimori Urges Peruvians to Set Aside ‘Grudges’ After His Release
(about 3 hours later)
In his first comments since being released from hospital after a medical pardon that drew condemnation at home and abroad, former President Alberto Fujimori of Peru called on the country to set aside its “grudges” in order to unite. LIMA, Peru — In his first comments since being released from hospital on a medical pardon that drew wide condemnation, former President Alberto Fujimori of Peru called on the country to set aside its “grudges” in order to unite.
Mr. Fujimori, 79, made the comments on Twitter on Saturday amid an unabating furor over President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s decision to effectively free the former strongman, who had served 12 years of a 25-year prison sentence for graft and human rights crimes. Mr. Fujimori, 79, made the comments on Twitter on Saturday amid an unabating furor over President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s decision to free the former strongman, who had served 12 years of a 25-year prison sentence for graft and human rights crimes.
Mr. Fujimori was wheeled from a hospital on Thursday after checking in for treatment for blood pressure and heart problems. But before leaving, he asked for Peruvians’ forgiveness “with all my heart” in a Facebook video from his hospital bed. On Twitter, the former leader reflected on the new chapter in his life and urged Peruvians to come together to fight violence and crime.
On Twitter on Saturday, he reflected on the new chapter in his life and urged Peruvians to come together to fight violence and crime, apparently in an appeal to his right-wing political base. “In the first hours of this new stage of my life, several dreams invade me constantly, and I would like to share them,” Mr. Fujimori tweeted. “I wish for a Peru without grudges, with all of us working toward a superior objective.”
“I’m constantly invaded by dreams and want to share them,” Mr. Fujimori said, adding, apparently in a jab at his opponents, “I long for a Peru without grudges, with everyone working for a higher goal.” Then, in an apparent appeal to his right-wing political base, he added: “We’ll be a country in which security is regained and violence is eliminated. We can fulfill these goals by setting aside special interests and opportunism. UNITED WE CAN ACHIEVE THEM!”
“We’ll be a country in which security is regained and violence is eliminated. We can fulfill these goals by setting aside special interests and opportunism. UNITED WE CAN ACHIEVE THEM!” It was unclear if Mr. Fujimori’s remarks were a hint that he planned to play a more active role in Peruvian politics. But the message rippled across Peru, where Mr. Fujimori is a deeply divisive figure.
The pardon has roiled Peru, with the Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and 238 other writers signing an open letter saying the decision covered the nation “in infamy and shame.” The letter said the pardon was not an act of compassion, but “the most crude and cynical political calculus.” Though respected by some, he has been vilified for leading an administration that led a violent crackdown in the 1990s on the Maoist Shining Path insurgency, which had all but brought normal life in Peru to a standstill with bombing attacks and killings.
It was unclear if Mr. Fujimori’s remarks were a hint that he planned to play a more active role in Peruvian politics, potentially supporting Mr. Kuczynski, whose center-right government has been rattled by a series of resignations. The president has yet to reveal a new cabinet since promising more than a week ago an announcement “very soon.” In 2009, Mr. Fujimori was sentenced for his role in two massacres that killed dozens of Peruvians in its effort to quash the Shining Path.
Mr. Kuczynski, 79, a former Wall Street banker who took office in July 2016, has been hanging on to power, having narrowly survived a motion in Congress last month to impeach him. He had been accused of lying during an inquiry about possible ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which was engulfed in a graft scandal. Peru, a country with an authoritarian past, had returned to democracy only 17 years ago. And critics denounced Mr. Kuczynski’s pardon as a blow to the fight against impunity and efforts to heal national wounds after Mr. Fujimori’s presidency.
It was later revealed that a financial services company Mr. Kuczynski owned had received $782,000 from Odebrecht, a disclosure that contributed to the impeachment effort. The Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and 238 other writers signed an open letter saying the decision covered the nation “in infamy and shame.” The letter said the pardon was not an act of compassion, as the government insisted, but “the most crude and cynical political calculus.”
Mr. Kuczynski had called the claims against him “weak” and said the impeachment proceedings were being used for political gain. But he had also made a plea to lawmakers, saying: “Congress members, do not join this strategy, do not let yourselves become confused. Those who accuse me will not let their condemnation be subjected to corroboration, to a debate, to due process.” Mr. Kuczynski, 79, a former Wall Street banker who took office in July 2016, has been hanging on to power, having narrowly survived a motion in Congress last month to impeach him.
Many had expected the vote to result in his removal, with the chamber dominated by the opposition Popular Force, a right-wing party whose leader ran against Mr. Kuczynski in the last election. He had been accused of lying during an inquiry about possible ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which was engulfed in a graft scandal. It was later revealed that a financial services company Mr. Kuczynski owned had received $782,000 from Odebrecht, a disclosure that sparked the impeachment effort.
But a faction of the right-wing party, which was founded by the daughter of Mr. Fujimori, swung the vote in Mr. Kuczynski’s favor. Representatives for the president and Mr. Fujimori have denied that the pardon was part of a political pact, and have defended it on humanitarian grounds. Mr. Kuczynski had called the claims against him “weak” and said the impeachment proceedings were being used for political gain.
Peru, a country with an authoritarian past, returned to democracy 17 years ago. Critics of the president’s pardon denounced it as a blow to the fight against impunity and efforts to heal national wounds after Mr. Fujimori’s presidency, from 1990 to 2000, suspended civil liberties and unleashed a brutal crackdown against the Shining Path, a leftist insurgency. Many had expected the vote to result in his removal, with the chamber dominated by the opposition Popular Force, a right-wing party founded by the daughter of Mr. Fujimori, Keiko, who supported the effort to impeach Mr. Kuczynski.
Many Peruvians, however, admire the former leader as an advocate of the poor and say he was unfairly punished for his government’s heavy-handed counterinsurgency campaign against the rebels. But at the last minute, a faction of the Popular Force led by Mr. Fujimori’s younger son, Kenji, challenged his sister and swung the vote in Mr. Kuczynski’s favor.
While Peru has had nearly two decades of commodities-fueled growth, street crime has been a top concern of voters throughout the presidencies of Mr. Fujimori’s four successors, including Mr. Kuczynski. Some lawmakers said that Mr. Fujimori had asked them to follow his son’s lead, and the pardon was widely seen as a quid pro quo with Mr. Kuczynski, charges the administration has denied.
“Some might think that PKK was tweeting from the wrong account,” the Peruvian political analyst Diethell Columbus said on Twitter, referring to the possibility that Mr. Kuczynski could have written Mr. Fujimori’s post. “It’s clear that once a politician, always a politician.” In signs of a split in Popular Force, Kenji Fujimori has accused his sister of “conspiring” to keep his father imprisoned. He has asked that his father be named an aide to the family-run party.
“On the one hand, there’s Keiko and her bloc that directly opposes the government,” said Gilbert Violeta, a congressman who is president of Mr. Kuczynski’s party, Peruvians for Change. “On the other hand, there’s Kenji and the bloc that supports Alberto Fujimori.”
“We will only know the real effects of that confrontation in the following days, when Congress is back in session,” Mr. Violeta added.
Lawyers say there is no legal obstacle preventing Mr. Fujimori from seeking public office now that he has regained his freedom.
Before he was wheeled from the hospital, he asked for Peruvians’ forgiveness “with all my heart” in a Facebook video.
Since then, he has spent his days inside a rented house in a quiet suburb of the Peruvian capital, Lima, where his doctors say he is recovering from a heart condition.