Siblings at war
The children of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori are battling each other to replace him
The view from Lima: Catherine Elton
On the day in late March that Peru’s president, faced with impeachment over corruption charges, finally decided to resign from office, the streets were empty of marches—either celebratory or in protest—and the stock market barely noticed. But this preternaturally quiet end to Pedro Pablo Kuczynsky’s 19-month rule, belies the fact that what led to this moment was a barely believable tale of intrigue, betrayal and political subterfuge carried out by two rival children of former president Alberto Fujimori.
The battle between Keiko and Kenji Fujimori was over whether Kuczynsky—or PPK, as he is known—would stay in the presidential palace. But the siblings’ larger, blood feud is over who will go on to represent their father’s legacy in the 2021 elections and possibly move “back home” to the presidential palace they were kicked out of 17 years ago when their father, too, was forced to resign over corruption charges.