LATIN AMERICA : Fujimori Says Democracy Lives in Peru; Others Are Skeptical

President Alberto Fujimori, on a trip to Asia and Los Angeles, has been portraying his country as a paragon of democratic progress. But many Peruvians have a darker view.

Unsolved cases of human rights violations, unrest in the army and limitations on the autonomy of Congress are raising doubts about the future of democracy in Peru.

Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants, spent this past week in Japan and South Korea, hoping to drum up new aid, trade and investment. He is scheduled to arrive Monday in Los Angeles, where he will meet with Mayor Tom Bradley and speak at a Tuesday lunch of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

Before Fujimori left home, a crisis involving the army and the Congress made it clear that democracy in Peru is frail and ailing--and could get worse before it gets better.

A committee of the 80-member Congress had been trying to investigate allegations of army involvement in the disappearance last July of nine students and a professor from a national teachers college near Lima known as La Cantuta. Gen. Nicolas Hermoza, the army commander, declared the investigation “unacceptable” and sent armored vehicles into the streets to emphasize his point.

Then, the pro-Fujimori majority of the Congress compliantly passed a measure barring the committee from calling in any but the highest army officials to testify about the disappearances.

“Without calling lower officers, it is impossible to have a serious investigation,” said Carlos Chipoco, a lawyer with a human rights organization known as CEAPAZ. A military court has opened an investigation of the disappearances, but Chipoco and other human rights advocates say no impartial findings can be expected.

Opposition members of the Congress threatened to quit, protesting that the limitation on congressional powers is proof of the government’s authoritarian nature--especially when it was imposed under military pressure.

Fujimori, elected in 1990, shut the previous Congress on April 5, 1992, in a coup backed by the army and apparently supported by most Peruvians. The current Congress was elected in November under rules devised by Fujimori. Some major political parties boycotted the election, though the voting was widely regarded as free and fair.

Some in the opposition argue that their participation in Congress gives it an undeserved semblance of legitimacy; others say it is a useful forum for dissent and that their withdrawal could trigger a deeper crisis that might lead to a military takeover.

The opposition finally decided to stay in the Congress, but the crisis has continued to crackle in Fujimori’s absence. Many political analysts say the developments underscore serious problems for democracy in Peru:

* Authorities are blocking any open investigation of human rights violations such as the Cantuta disappearances. If abuses are not investigated and sanctioned, they are more likely to recur.

* Congress lacks the independence and investigative powers required for a democratic system of checks and balances. It also seems likely to give rubber-stamp approval to a new constitution that those in the opposition fear could pave the way for an authoritarian Fujimori government through the rest of the century.

* The army, which ruled Peru from 1968 to 1980, again has taken a decisive role in the country’s political life. Dissent and conflict within the army add to its potential for disruption.

Military dissenters include the so-called “institutionalists,” reportedly enraged over Fujimori’s practice of promoting officers to high positions based on political loyalty to him rather than professional competence. Institutionalists have leaked information about alleged involvement of rival officers in human rights violations.