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In 1962, Victor Raul Haya de la Torre won the presidential elections. He is the founder of APRA, American Popular Revolutionary Alliance.
The Shining Path guerrilla movement waged a ‘historically required’ revolution, but never had the support of the majority of the population. Their attacks gained force around 1982. Abimael Guzman, was captured by the police only ten years later, under the presidency of Alberto Fujimori.
The youthful and eloquent Alan García of the APRA party was elected president in 1985. He could not beat the Shining Path. The country fell into a deep inflation crisis.
Alberto Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants, was elected in 1990. He defeated novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. Fujimori’s austere economy drive and inflation programs succeeded to bring back economical stability. He was re-elected in 1995.
In December 1996, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement members occupied the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima, holding hostages for more than four months. The drama came to an end in April 1997, when armed forces were able to rescue all 71 hostages.
In 2000, Fujimori ran for a third term and won against Alejandro Toledo. The accuracy of the outcome was challenged throughout the world. Following charges of corruption against intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos, Fujimori secretly fled into exile in Japan and sent his resignation per fax. He is presently serving his sentence in Peru. Charges of corruption and violations of human rights are still pending. Alejandro Toledo, the nation’s first president of native Indian origin, was elected in April 2001. Alan Garcia was re-elected in 2006, but his second term proved to be disappointing. His neoliberal, export-oriented politics were unpopular. After a bribery scandal involving some of his friends and employees became public in October 2008, his entire cabinet was forced to resign. Ollanta Humala was elected in 2011 1990. He defeated Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Alberto Fujimori |
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