Pardoned Fujimori calls for Peru unity

Former president’s remarks were the first sign that he would play a more active role in country’s politics

Recently pardoned former president Alberto Fujimori called for Peruvians on Saturday to set aside their “grudges” in order to unite against violence and crime, appealing to his right-wing political base two days after being freed from prison by a presidential pardon.

In his first comments since being released from a hospital for blood pressure and heart problems on Thursday, Fujimori took to Twitter to reflect on the new chapter in his life following a decade in prison serving a 25-year prison sentence for graft and human rights crimes.

“I’m constantly invaded by dreams and want to share them,” Fujimori said, describing a nation free of “grudges” in a jab at his opponents.

“We’ll be in a country in which security is regained and violence eliminated. We can only achieve these goals by setting aside special interests and opportunism. UNITED WE CAN DO IT!”

Fujimori’s remarks were the first sign that he would play a more active role in Peruvian politics, potentially supporting President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski following a series of political resignations that have shaken his centre-right government.

Kuczynski, 79, a former Wall Street banker, has struggled to govern alongside a Congress ruled by Fujimori’s supporters, and pardoned Fujimori on Christmas Eve, three days after Fujimori asked his loyalists to help Kuczynski survive an impeachment bid in Congress. The decision ignited protests and a backlash against the political establishment.

Crime concerns

Critics of the pardon have slammed it as a blow to the global fight against impunity and efforts to heal the wounds of a conflict between leftist insurgents and Fujimori’s 19902000 government that killed an estimated 69,000 people.

But many in Peru admire Fujimori as a proponent for the poor and say he was unfairly punished for his government’s heavy-handed counterinsurgency campaign against rebels.

While Peru has enjoyed nearly two decades of peace and commodities-fuelled growth since Fujimori’s authoritarian government ended in a graft scandal, street crime has been a top concern for voters.