Fujimori legacy blessing and curse for candidate daughter in Peru

HUANTA, Peru — The front-runner in Peru’s presidential race danced through the streets of this Andean town that her father, former hard-line President Alberto Fujimori, wrested from Shining Path rebels in a bloody conflict two decades ago.

Sporting a black felt hat ringed with yellow flowers, Keiko Fujimori won applause on a recent campaign stop at her mention of the “efficiency” with which her father — now disgraced and imprisoned — built schools and defeated the leftist insurgency.

“Her father remains in people’s hearts in the countryside because no other president gave them weapons, animals, seeds, food and clothing,” said Alejandro Ccente, a teacher from the nearby village of Uchuraccay.

Many Peruvians simply can’t separate the younger Fujimori from her father, who is serving concurrent 25-year prison terms for corruption and sanctioning death squads.

“She lived amid corruption and never said a thing,” said Norma Azparrent, who was among several dozen protesters taking part in an anti-Fujimori demonstration in the regional capital of Ayacucho during the January campaign swing.