LIMA.- The former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori He will seek his third presidential term in 2026, amid his health problems and questions about the convictions he faces, his daughter announced. Keiko Fujimorileader of Peru’s main right-wing party, Fuerza Popular.
“My father and I have talked and decided together that he will be the presidential candidate,” Keiko Fujimori wrote on her social media, along with a video featuring her father, who announced in May that he suffers from a malignant tongue tumor and is two weeks away from turning 86.
Alberto Fujimori, of Japanese origin, ruled Peru with an iron fist between 1990 and 2000, under his leadership he defeated the Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso, whose main leaders were arrested.
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and is accused of two massacres of civilians carried out by an army squad in the fight against Shining Path terrorism in the early 1990s.
He was imprisoned for 16 years, accused of crimes against humanity, until the country’s highest court ordered his “immediate” release and he was released on December 7, 2023 under the protection of a pardon granted for humanitarian reasons, despite the objection of the Inter-American courts.
Keiko Fujimori said a few days ago that she will not accompany her father as a possible vice president. “I would prefer not to be in that ticket. I believe that my role, as president of the party, will help him to put together the teams,” she said.
Fujimorism is the main force in the fragmented Congress, which it controls together with other right-wing groups.
Prevented from applying?
Prior to his official candidacy, Fujimori will have to decide whether he is allowed to run or notOne of the legal impediments would be an outstanding civil reparation debt of about 15.5 million dollars, for three cases in which he was sentenced by the Judiciary.
The former judge of the Constitutional Court of PeruErnesto Blume assured Canal N that the pardon has not eliminated the criminal responsibility of Alberto Fujimori and is therefore disqualified from running for president.
“The pardon has spared him from serving the remainder of his sentence, whether for humanitarian reasons, but it has not eliminated his criminal responsibility or the nature of the sentence itself,” Blume said.
On his father’s inability to run, Keiko Fujimori He told RPP radio that “I am not going to enter into the debate on legal issues, I will leave that debate to the lawyers and I imagine that this possibility will be clarified later.”
The electoral authorities have not commented on his candidacy.
Delicate health
The former president will not only have to overcome legal obstacles to try to return to the presidency of Peru. He will also have to deal with his delicate health, which has kept him hospitalized on more than one occasion.
Last May, the former president known as “El Chino” announced on social media that a malignant tumor had been detected in his tongue, where he has suffered from a cancerous lesion for more than 27 years.
In 2018, Fujimori revealed that doctors had detected a tumor in his lungs.
“My father will have to undergo several tests, the most important of which is undoubtedly his health,” the former president’s daughter added to RPP.
A few weeks ago, Fujimori also suffered a hip accident at his residence, from which he is barely recovering.
“He is in the process of walking again and is also receiving radiotherapy. When we talk about politics, I see his will to live and I trust that he will recover. He will be an excellent candidate, a great president. In 2026 we will campaign with the rhythm of the Chinese,” said Keiko Fujimori.
Source: With information from AFP