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| A FAIR FIGHT? | |
 April 13, 2000 
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Questions of corruption surround Peru's presidential race, even as the two main candidates prepare for an election runoff. After this background report, three experts discuss the situation.
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RAY SUAREZ: As Peru's cliffhanger vote count drew to a close, President Alberto Fujimori missed the 50% he needed for a first-round win. Challenger Alejandro Toledo's presidential ambitions are still alive. ALEJANDRO TOLEDO, Presidential Candidate (Translated): I come here tonight to announce to you that collective democratic stubbornness has just triumphed.
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| Trying for a third term | |||||||||||||||||
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RAY SUAREZ: Peru's president faced eight opponents, but only one, Toledo, was considered a serious threat to him by the time the polls opened. Before the Election Commission announced Fujimori would be forced into a runoff, Toledo led more than 4,000 protesters in a march on Fujimori's presidential palace. Protesters lobbed rocks and tear gas at the building. DEMONSTRATOR (Translated): The people are sick to death of Fujimori. Today we have said that it's about time we got rid of this dictatorship.
President Fujimori walked onto the global stage amid a hail of bullets three years ago. The no-nonsense, tough-guy image he had been projecting at home in a fight against a guerrilla army, the Shining Path, was displayed on international television when he sent Peruvian troops to storm the Japanese embassy that had been held by terrorists. It was a high point of controversy for an often-controversial president, a politician of Japanese descent in a nation whose politics are dominated by descendants of Spanish conquerors and native Indians.
PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI (Translated): As president of the nation, I ask that the people turn out in force and vote responsibly. RAY SUAREZ: As tempers have risen in the days after the balloting, Fujimori has continued to urge calm and promised to respect the voters' decision, while Alejandro Toledo has threatened disorder and brought the opposition onto the streets. The runoff is now set for June. |
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RAY
SUAREZ: All week, demonstrators have been on the streets of Peru's capital,
Lima, alleging fraud in the presidential balloting. Much of the press
and the majority of political leaders backed accusations of interference
with computer systems and falsified ballot papers, all meant to assure
the president's reelection in the first round. As the vote count stretched
into days, pressure continued to mount on the Fujimori government from
inside and outside Peru. 
JAMES
RUBIN, State Department Spokesman: We would have some serious questions
if that-- the official count was inconsistent with these respected non-governmental
organizations and international observers. If that were to happen, and
thus there would be convincing proof of fraud, in our view this would
pose a substantial challenge to restoring the credibility of the government
in Peru with the United States and the rest of the international community.
RAY
SUAREZ: First elected in 1990, Fujimori was an unknown university rector.
He appealed to poor citizens who saw him as a genuine outsider, and
helped him defeat the internationally known author Mario Vargas Llosa,
in a runoff. Fujimori took over a country terrorized by guerrillas and
plagued by inflation, which ran at 7,500% annually. Within two years,
arrests had crippled rebel organizations in Peru, and a free-market
economic program was in place. After forcing changes in Peruvian law
to clear the way, Fujimori was reelected overwhelmingly to a second
term in 1995. 
Then
Fujimori ran for a third five-year term. Peru's 1993 constitution permitted
sitting presidents to stand for reelection just once. In 1997, three
judges who wanted to uphold the constitutional ban were quickly fired
by Peru's congress under pressure from the president. As he cast his
own ballot on Sunday, flanked by his daughters, Fujimori urged the people
of Peru to vote.