The Bush domestic spying program has the makings of a civil liberties battle that is reminiscent of the one waged in Peru only about five years ago, when the people of Peru rejected similar dictatorial powers that were assumed by their elected president in his fight against terrorist rebels. Alberto Fujimori was successful in defeating the terrorists, but he also succeeded in destroying constitutional government in Peru. In the end, the people of Peru demanded their rights. Will Americans be willing to stand up to Bush to demand the same civil liberties as the Peruvians?
The similarities are striking - Fujimori became president of Peru in 1990, when the nation was challenged by terrorism and economic decline. He became more popular than ever through the capture of the leader of "Sendero Luminoso" (Shining Path) terrorists. His war on terror involved dissolving the courts and the congress. He brushed aside charges that he had assumed dictatorial power, by arguing that the legislative and judiciary had been hindering the security forces in their fight against the terrorists. He was reelected with 64% of the vote in 1995, after restoring congressional powers and was widely acclaimed after ending a siege by Tupac Amaru guerillas at the Japanese embassy. In 2000 he was elected to a third term as president.
Many Peruvians accepted his authoritarian methods as a necessary evil in the fight against the terrorists but some began to voice concern that these same methods were being employed against his democratic opponents. His critics accused him of using the Intelligence Service to spy on Peruvian citizens who were exercising their right of dissent. They said that exerted undue control on the mass media and the judiciary and used government resources to support his own political campaigns. Fujimori won an unprecedented third term as president, but was forced to resign amid a scandal about coercion and bribery. He fled Peru to live in exile in Japan, but was recently arrested in Chile while planning a return to Peru to again seek the presidency.
The Peruvian people stood up to protest the compromise of their civil liberties and their rights to constitutional government, despite the war on terrorist groups. Will Americans be as willing to regain the liberties that have now been taken away? Will Mr. Bush become the American Fujimori? I certainly hope so, but the question is in doubt.