Peru’s Fujimori Overreaches, but Delivers for Rich, Poor

Seen from abroad, it is difficult to understand why the announcement by President Alberto Fujimori that he will seek a third term in office has caused such an uproar in Peru.

The record of his 10-year-old presidency looks impressive. He has reformed Peru’s economy and made it work more efficiently. Public safety has improved dramatically, and his strategies to combat drug trafficking have proved to be very effective. Peru’s public health system is better than ever. The old problems along the border with Ecuador have been resolved. In other words, after 10 years of Fujimori’s rule, the country is better off.

Why then do so many Peruvians object to his third term? Why do most major media, opinion leaders and almost half the citizenry oppose it?

There are several reasons. First, plain and simple, because running for a third term is unconstitutional, and Peruvians must learn to live, once and for all, under the rule of law. No matter what Fujimori’s supporters in Congress say, there is no other reading of the Constitution on this matter.

The second reason is more complex. To achieve its goals, the Fujimori administration ignored the law of the land whenever it pleased. Assisted by Vladimiro Montesinos, the de facto head of the National Intelligence Services, Fujimori has damaged many democratic institutions in Peru. For example, three magistrates who had declared unconstitutional the law approved in Congress to make Fujimori’s third term possible were abruptly dismissed, greatly undermining the judiciary.

On issues regarding freedom of the press, it is true that in Peru anyone can publish whatever information there is available, but it is also true that airing or publishing it may have serious consequences. After Channel 2, a popular TV station in Lima, aired a report that was critical of the army and the intelligence services, the station was taken away from the owner, Baruch Iver, through legalistic maneuvering; the government stripped him of his Peruvian nationality and he fled the country.

In another case, journalist Jose Arrieta, who is now in exile in the U.S., has suffered tough police persecution for his writings.

The Fujimori administration, seeking to preempt a negative report on these kinds of flagrant abuses of authority, has kicked out of the country the Inter American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States.

His authoritarian rule has given Peru a negative international image.

In November, the U.S. Congress issued a very critical resolution chastising him for eroding “the independence of the judicial and electoral branches of the government of Peru.”

Given these extremely serious flaws in the president’s governing style, the question remains: How can almost half the people in Peru, according to most polls, plan to vote for him?

The answer may be partly one of economics. The big question on the minds of most people in Peru is how they are going to feed themselves and their families. “Democracy,” it is said among the people, “cannot be eaten.” And frankly, respect for the rule of law and upholding democratic values are not high on the list of priorities of the common folks.

But that’s not all. Fujimori has crafted for himself a well-deserved reputation as a hard-working man.

He is indeed a workaholic who visits the provinces, sometimes twice in a day, just to be near those who heretofore have been forgotten. He dresses in typical costume and rides horses, even if sometimes he falls from them. He climbs 4,000 feet to dance the huainito, carrying along a physician and an oxygen tank just in case he needs them. Fujimori knows by heart all the “big” problems that besiege the smallest communities, even if they are as minimal as bringing water for irrigation or providing fertilizer. He goes the extra mile to install a drainage system or an electricity post in a small town lost in the Andes or computers in schools in the barrios.

Never before has a Peruvian president implemented a social policy of this magnitude. More than 60% of the poor receive some type of food assistance. They all vote and are likely to vote for him. They like him in spite of a national 9.5% index of unemployment and 54% underemployment.

There is a third paradox associated with Fujimori. He would not only get the vote of the poorest people, but also that of the richest. As long as they feel safe, the very rich don’t mind the autocratic rule. The support of the rich may not mean a lot of votes, but it weighs heavily in financing a campaign.

Above all, Fujimori is a controversial man, and that is the key to his successes and his failures.

When he goes back on the campaign trail, he must work hard to overcome the image he has created for himself as the man who has violated the constitution. He must break with some of the more controversial people who surround him. He must guarantee that he will abide by the rule of law and rule in a democratic, nonauthoritarian fashion.

Fujimori must come to terms with the fact that if he becomes president once again, he will be the president of all Peruvians--the rich, the poor and those in the middle.