Fujimori II Looms as Jailed Strongman's Daughter Soars in Polls
- As Alberto Fujimori Sits in Jail, His Daughter Tops Polls
- Rising Crime Stirs Longing for Return of Fujimori Rule
The name Alberto Fujimori, if it still means anything in international circles, tends to conjure up harsh terms associated with the dark side of his presidency: crook, thug, murderer. To much of the population in his native Peru, though, the name means something entirely different -- the man who crushed a brutal guerrilla insurgency, ended hyperinflation and paved the way for a two-decade economic boom.
It is why his daughter, 40-year-old Keiko Fujimori, has surged to a commanding lead over a pack of 18 rivals vying for the presidency in April’s vote, some five years after her previous bid came up a few points short. She has toned down some elements of her stance on her father’s administration this time around, making it a bit more nuanced, a bit more balanced, but the basic tenets of it remain much the same: Alberto Fujimori, now 77 and in poor health, is a great man who was wronged when he was thrown into the jail cell he lives in near Lima for the death-squad killings of suspected terrorist sympathizers.