Fujimori to File Charges Against Political Rivals

President Alberto Fujimori’s government said Thursday that it will bring criminal charges against his two main rivals and increase prison sentences for leftist guerrillas.

Fujimori, with military backing, dissolved the courts and Congress on April 5. He said corruption and inefficiency are impeding his reforms and his fight against leftist guerrillas and drug cartels.

Seeking to strengthen a counterinsurgency campaign, Fujimori said he is ordering life sentences for people convicted of guerrilla violence. The previous law established sentences of up to 25 years, but rebels often were released before serving full sentences by judges who had been bribed or threatened.

The government said it will charge Fujimori’s former vice president, Maximo San Roman, with usurpation of Fujimori’s office, and that former President Alan Garcia, now a fugitive, will be charged with illegal possession of firearms.

Garcia and San Roman pose the main political challenge to Fujimori’s state of emergency declaration. The government did not say how or when it will move against the two men.

Garcia was president from 1985-90 and leads the largest opposition party, APRA.

San Roman was sworn in two weeks ago as rival president by the banned Congress. He met Thursday with representatives of political parties, unions and social organizations to start a “national dialogue” aimed at restoring democracy.