Lima: He is in jail for massacres and embezzling millions in public funds, but many Peruvians still love their ex-president Alberto Fujimori.
They thank him for crushing the Shining Path guerrillas, overseeing an economic boom and handing out gifts to the poor during his 1990-2000 rule.
Delighted that his daughter Keiko may now follow in his footsteps as president after elections on Sunday, thousands turned out in a working-class suburb of Lima to cheer her at her closing campaign rally.
“When the country was destroyed, full of terrorism, of the Shining Path, in total chaos, Alberto Fujimori recovered the country,” said supporter Yoni Carranca, 49.
“Now his daughter has to transform it even more.”
The Shining Path carried out attacks and kidnappings in its quest to set up a communist state.
Fujimori and his secret service chief Vladimiro Montesinos went after it with death squads that were accused of killing innocents as well as guerrillas.
The Supreme Court convicted Fujimori in 2009 of “crimes against humanity” under Peruvian law. He was held responsible for the death squads. The court also convicted him of corruption.
The courts are still working through a long list of charges against Montesinos.
Keiko admits that her father made “mistakes” and has promised to safeguard human rights and to support victims of abuses, such as women who were forcibly sterilized under his rule.
“Fujimoristas” say their hero was led astray by his adviser.
“He gave a lot of power to Vladimiro Montesinos. That is why Fujimori fell,” said 58-year-old Lima taxi driver Felizardo Mogollon.
“If he had continued as president the country would be in a better state now.”
Under outgoing President Ollanta Humala, Peru’s economy has grown faster than most of its neighbors, but not as strongly as during the Fujimori boom. Keiko says many poor families have been left behind.
Hearing her promises, her supporters say they do not care that, for her opponents, her family name is a mark of shame.
“No one here is bothered about that. You know why? Because that brave woman Keiko knows what we suffer,” said Maria Estela Farro, 49, at a Keiko rally in eastern Lima.
“Those who attack her are people who have what they need. They don’t care about the poor.”
Keiko is topping the polls ahead of Sunday’s election with about a third of the vote, according to surveys by three pollsters released Friday.
That will send her into a runoff vote against one of her opponents vying for second place: former Wall Street banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77, or congresswoman Veronika Mendoza, 35.
Opponents tried to have her excluded from the race for alleged vote-buying, but the electoral board on Friday rejected the latest appeal against her candidacy, confirming she can run.
Like her father, Keiko has wooed villagers in this mountainous South American land and played a tough line on security.
In her slick closing speech, Keiko’s broad smile swiftly gave way to a menacing frown as she tackled law and order.
She drew deafening cheers as she vowed to build new prisons high in the mountains to lock up violent criminals.
For locals in Lima’s dangerous suburbs, electing a president is about more than just the memory of Fujimori senior’s crimes.
“Yes, that matters, but he did good things too. He gave out food to the poor,” said Nataly Gonzalo, 25, at the rally with her three-year-old son. She earns about $250 a month working as a hairdresser.
“She is firm. I hope she gets rid of all the criminals. They kill, fight and rob,” Gonzalo said. “And I hope she raises the minimum wage.”
Fujimori senior was not among the faces on the election posters lining the roads nearby. But his name was in the mind of Keiko’s supporters.
“It is not fair that he is in jail. There was no proof against him over the massacres,” said Jose Luis Venancio, a 39-year-old retailer.
“He was the best president Peru has had.”
Fujimori voters nostalgic for Peru’s jailed ex-leader
Fujimori voters nostalgic for Peru’s jailed ex-leader
Homeless Muslims in southern Philippines observe Ramadan as month of trial
- Thousands lost their homes when parts of Bongao in Tawi-Tawi were burnt to ashes
- Many trying to fully observe the fasting month say they are grateful to be alive
Manila: As Annalexis Abdulla Dabbang was looking forward to observing the month of Ramadan with her family, just days before it began they lost everything when an enormous fire tore through whole neighborhoods of their city in the southernmost province of the Philippines.
Bongao is the capital of Tawi-Tawi, an island province, forming part of the country’s Muslim minority heartland in the Bangsamoro region. The city experienced its worst fire in years in early February, when flames swept through the coastal community, leaving more than 5,000 people homeless.
“We were swimming for our lives. We had to swim to escape from the fire ... We swam in darkness, and (even) the sea was already hot because of the fire,” Dabbang, a 27-year-old teacher, told Arab News.
“Everything we owned was gone in just a few hours — our home, our memories, the things we worked hard for, everything turned to ashes.”
Trying to save their 2-year-old daughter and themselves, she and her husband left everything behind — as did hundreds of other families that together with them have since taken shelter at the Mindanao State University gymnasium — one of the evacuation centers.
Unable to secure a tent, Dabbang’s family has been sleeping on the bleachers, sharing a single mat as their bed. When Ramadan arrived a few days after they moved to the makeshift shelter, they welcomed it in a different, more solemn way. There is no family privacy for suhoor, no room or means to welcome guests for iftar.
“Ramadan feels different now. It’s painful but at the same time more real. When we lost our home, we began to understand what sacrifice really means. When you sleep in an evacuation center, you understand hunger, discomfort in a deeper way,” Dabbang said.
“We don’t prepare special dishes. We prepare our hearts.”
While she and thousands of others have lost everything they have ever owned, she has not lost her faith.
“Our dreams may have turned to ashes, but our prayers are still alive,” she said.
“This Ramadan my prayers are more emotional than ever. I pray for strength, not just for myself, but for my family and for every neighbor who also lost their family home. I pray for healing from the trauma of fire. I pray that Allah will replace what we lost with something better. I pray for the chance to rebuild not just our house, but our sense of security.”
Juraij Dayan Hussin, a volunteer helping the Bongao fire victims, observed that many of them were traumatized and the need to cleanse the heart and mind during Ramadan was what kept many of them going, because they are “thankful that even though they lost their property, they are still alive.”
But the religious observance related to the fasting month is not easy in a cramped shelter.
“It’s hard for Muslims to perform their prayers when they do not have their proper attire because they usually have specific clothes for prayer,” he said. “Sanitation in the area is also an issue ... when you fast and when you pray, cleanliness is essential.”
For Abdulkail Jani, who is staying at a basketball court with his brother and more than 70 other families, this Ramadan will be spent apart from their parents, whom they managed to move to relatives.
“The month of Ramadan this year is a month of trial ... there will be a huge change from how we observed Ramadan in the past, but we will adjust to it and try to comfort ourselves and our family. The most important thing is that we can perform the fasting,” he told Arab News.
“Despite our situation now, despite everything, as long as we’re alive, we will observe Ramadan. We’ll try to observe it well, without missing anything.”
