Alberto Fujimori, Ex-President Of Peru Dies

Alberto Fujimori, the polarising former leader of Peru who was credited with stabilising the Latin American country’s economy before being jailed for human rights abuses, has died at the age of 86, his family has announced.

Fujimori’s daughter Keiko Fujimori said the former president had died following a long battle with cancer.

“We ask those who loved him to join us in praying for the eternal rest of his soul,” Keiko Fujimori said in a post on X on Wednesday. “Thank you for so much, Dad!”.

Fujimori, a former agricultural engineer and university professor, emerged from obscurity to place second in Peru’s 1990 election against establishment favourite Mario Vargas Llosa before beating his rival in a subsequent run-off vote.

During his decade-long presidency, Fujimori won plaudits for vanquishing hyperinflation, spurring economic growth and cracking down on the Maoist Shining Path rebel group.

But the son of Japanese immigrants also attracted criticism for consolidating power through undemocratic means and undermining Peru’s institutions and rule of law.