Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru, has died

Former President Alberto Fujimori died today at the age of 86. He was 86 years old and had cancer. His children confirmed this a short while ago through Keiko Fujimori’s X account.
“After a long battle with cancer, our father Alberto Fujimori has just left to meet the Lord. We ask those who appreciated him to accompany us with a prayer for the eternal rest of his soul. Thank you very much, Dad! Keiko, Hiro, Sachie and Kenji Fujimori.” President of Peru between 1990 and 2000, he was sentenced to prison for the massacres of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta.

Alberto Fujimori, nicknamed “El Chino” even though he was of Japanese origin, ruled Peru with an iron fist between 1990 and 2000.
A decade marked by significant economic reforms but also by authoritarian practices that in 2009 led to his sentencing to 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity due to two massacres of civilians committed by an army squad during the fight against the Maoist guerrillas of Sendero Luminoso in the 1990s.
After serving 16 years in prison, he was released in December by the Peruvian Constitutional Court “for humanitarian reasons”, despite opposition from the Inter-American Court of Justice.
Fujimori was still a significant figure in Peruvian politics and his daughter Keiko Fujimori had announced in July that she wanted to nominate him for her party, Fuerza Popular, in the 2026 presidential elections.

Peru has declared three days of national mourning.