A Pivotal Moment for Peru

Peru’s President Alberto Fujimori indeed must leave office, but there is a constitutional and political maze to be negotiated before he walks out the door of the presidential palace for the last time. Most critically, the military that has strongly supported both Fujimori and the corrupt intelligence chief whose actions brought him down must allow a democratic process to go forward.

Fujimori did the right thing over the weekend when, after yet another scandal involving his powerful intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, he announced he would dismantle the national intelligence system and call for general elections in which he would not run.

Friday, national television broadcast a video in which chief spy Montesinos appears to be bribing a congressman to support Fujimori. The video, which shows Montesinos in his office counting the money before handing it over, seems to confirm charges in the independent Peruvian press that Montesinos was at the pinnacle of widespread government corruption.

The public’s demand for Montesinos’ ouster was immediate, but few expected Fujimori also to call it quits.

As a terse statement from the Organization of American States suggests, Fujimori must have “judged that continuing as head of state could mean uncertainties and represent an obstacle for the normal development of the democratic process.” Peru’s modern history includes free elections punctuated by military rule. Fujimori himself won his third term as president this year after getting lawmakers to change the constitution so he could run again. Fujimori has not regained the respect of his Latin American peers, and relations with the United States remain shaky.

Now, Fujimori has to keep all of his promises, starting with complete deactivation of the abusive intelligence system. There were disputed reports Monday that Montesinos had been arrested, amid general fears about how the army might react. In any case, the charges against him are grave enough to demand an independent investigation.

Fujimori must leave office constitutionally, after arranging a public referendum to decide how and when to hold a special election. The same referendum could also reform the courts and electoral agency, adding badly needed credibility to Peru’s electoral process. The Organization of American States, which has been encouraging reform of Peru’s electoral institutions, should stay closely involved.

Peru is at a pivotal moment. Fujimori’s battered and divided opposition must rouse itself as a democratic force. And Washington should send a very clear message to the Peruvian armed forces that a military coup would have serious consequences in relations with the United States.