Despite Keiko Fujimori’s efforts to distance herself from her father’s ‘errors’ the frontrunner is forced to suspend events in run-up to Sunday’s election

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The statue of José de San Martín astride a horse in the plaza named after the South American liberation hero in downtown Lima has seen a lot of protests. But a march against the presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori on Tuesday was probably the biggest since the end of her father’s decade-long rule in 2000.



At least 30,000 people joined the march, on the 24th anniversary of the infamous “self-coup”, or “auto-golpe”, when her father Alberto Fujimori dissolved congress, assumed extraordinary powers and sent tanks and soldiers onto the streets.

Alberto Fujimori, who led Peru between 1990 and 2000, was jailed for 25 years in 2009 for directing death squads, embezzlement and bribing the media to smear his opponents. Five years earlier, he had been listed as No 7 in a list of top 10 corrupt leaders in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report.

Peruvians vote on Sunday in presidential elections and Keiko Fujimori is currently the frontrunner, with polls showing her with more than 40% of the vote. But Tuesday’s march suggested she may yet face defeat if the vote goes to a second round.

Marchers chanting “Fujimori Never Again” waved handwritten messages scrawled on placards. There were piñata-like puppets of Alberto Fujimori and his eminence gris, the former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. A giant Peruvian flag stretching half a block was unfurled reading “Keiko No Va”, or “Keiko no way”.

“Fujimorism was the worst mafia to take control of Peru in the 20th century and now it wants to come back,” said Oscar Nicho, 23.

“Fujimori was the worst leader this country ever had and we can’t allow his legacy to continue,” said Carlos Espina, an architect wearing a red headband which read “No A Keiko”. There were marches in cities across Peru and expatriate Peruvians staged smaller rallies in Paris, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and even London.

Among the demonstrators were actors, intellectuals, feminist groups, trade unions, university students and pensioners. Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular party cancelled all activities.

Despite such strident opposition, however, Alberto Fujimori remains popular with many Peruvians, thanks to the perception that his strong-handed policies crushed the Shining Path rebel group and defeated hyperinflation, putting Peru on the road to its current economic success.

Keiko Fujimori has distancing herself from what she calls her father’s “errors” pledging in a presidential debate just days before the protest to respect human rights and democracy and never to repeat the events of 5 April 1992. Her supporters hope she will emulate her father with a tough stance on crime, free-market reforms – and widespread assistance for the poor.

Earlier this month, Fujimori supporters were out in strength at a campaign event in the arid Andean foothills on the outskirts of Lima.

Amid blasts of cumbia music, Keiko Fujimori promised public works, piped water and sanitation, better education and more jobs.

“Just as we defeated terrorism we have the ability and the will to defeat crime,” she said, to roars from the crowd. Fujimori is no stranger to political theatre: she became her father’s first lady at the age of 19, after he became estranged from his wife and her mother, Susana Higuchi.



Her supporters are unequivocal in their backing. Decked out in the orange colours of the party, Ruth Paucar, 44, said firstly she supports Keiko because she is a woman and a mother.

If Keiko Fujimori wants to win ... she must persuade voters that she will not copy the excesses of her father

“Her father was the only leader who had the guts to tackle terrorism,” she said.

“They locked him up for so-called human rights crimes, but what about the human rights of all of us who live here and benefitted from what he did?” she said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Keiko Fujimori gestures as she arrives for a presidential debate in Lima. Photograph: Guadalupe Pardo/Reuters

Raul Franko, the local mayor and a congressional candidate for Fujimori’s party, says: “Fujimori made mistakes but at least he did something, other leaders did nothing so, of course, they couldn’t make mistakes.”

“He was the best president Peru ever had and Keiko will be even better,” he said.

But if Keiko Fujimori wants to win in the first round this Sunday she must persuade voters in the centre that she will not copy the excesses of her father, says veteran investigative journalist Gustavo Gorriti, who was briefly kidnapped by Fujimori’s regime in the 1992 coup.

“Keiko is different from her father, but she owes her prominence in politics to her surname,” he told the Guardian.

“Her victory would mean victory for Alberto Fujimori, his entourage and all that they represent.”

Fujimori’s campaign has benefitted from rulings by the Peruvian electoral authorities, which barred two candidates – including her main challenger Julio Guzmán, who was removed from the race for a technical error.

Peru’s electoral tribunal ruled Keiko Fujimori could remain in the race despite appearing to have broken the same rule against vote-buying as another expelled candidate Cesar Acuña.

Last week, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro called the Peruvian elections “semi-democratic” and called for the restoration of the right to participation for all candidates. The statement, says Gorriti, lays bare the “incompetence and corruption” of Peru’s electoral board.

“No matter who wins they will preside over a turbulent country where the whole notion of a free and clean mandate will be under a heavy question mark,” he said.

Election explainer – Peru’s presidential candidates

Keiko Fujimori, 40

The front-running candidate is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, the former president who governed Peru between 1990 and 2000. He was jailed for 25 years in 2009 convicted of directing death squads which killed 25 people, embezzlement and bribing the media to smear his opponents.

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77

The favourite candidate of the business community is a centre-right former prime minister, who is campaigning as a steady hand on the economy with administrative experience.

Verónika Mendoza, 35

A leftwing congresswoman from the highland city of Cusco, Mendoza has surged in the polls pledging to rein in corruption and halt the sell-off of Peru’s natural resources.

Alfredo Barnechea, 63

A centrist former writer and journalist, Barnehea has campaigned on a platform of social and economic changes to challenge Peru’s historic inequality.

Alan García, 66

Trailing in fifth place with just 6.3% of voter intention, García, is a two-time former president (1985-90, 2006-11), and an experienced career politician. Although he presided over strong economic growth in his second term he has been dogged by allegations of corruption.