From the NY Times: An Ex-President of Peru Plots His Return

[cstaylor]

An Ex-President of Peru Plots His Return

For Luis Quesada, a Peruvian diplomat here, a 700-page extradition request contains all the necessary justification. "For us, our case is clear," he said. "It is not a political decision, but a judicial one."

Taking a less diplomatic tack, Nelly Calderón, Peru's chief prosecutor, complained recently to a Kyodo News Agency reporter, "We have gotten almost no cooperation from Japan on the investigations."

Given the politics of Japan, it is highly unlikely that Mr. Fujimori will go home involuntarily. His conservative supporters include senior government officials, most notably Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo.

[kamome]

Tokyo Weekender (which, in my opinion, is a total rag) just did a cover story on Fujimori this week. The writing in the article is awful, but the interesting thing is that Fujimori wants to go back and run for Prez again. How can he do that if he faces jail time?

[cstaylor]

How can he do that if he faces jail time?

This is the third-world we're talking about... today's disgraced politician returns to become the shining new prince.

[Taro Toporific]

An Ex-President of Peru Plots His Return

My favorite quote is about his new babe, the mysterious Satomi Kataoka.

[quote="NY Times"] Mr. Fujimori, who appears content to build his political movement from afar, did not tip his hand about when he intended to return. He did say, however, that his companion here, Satomi Kataoka &#8212]
Via Diario La República Peru.
Japanese woman turns down Fujimori's marriage proposal - smh.com.
... Fujimori, who is living in exile, fell in love with 36-year-old businesswoman Satomi Kataoka at first sight, the popular Friday magazine reported. ...AFP /2003/04/13/

[Captain Japan]

Kataoka first met Fujimori, who has been exiled here since late 2000, a year ago at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine - a controversial Shinto holy place dedicated to the war dead, including condemned World War II leaders.

The above is maybe the funniest part. You talk about romance...I knew Fujimori was smooth.

But speaking of Yasukuni, their webpage has a pretty wild intro.

[Taro Toporific]

..I knew Fujimori was smooth.

It don't get weirder than this....


Former presidents of Peru and Ecuador shared fortune tellerWednesday, May 26, 2004 Posted: 7:17 PM EDT (2317 GMT) / CNN
LIMA, Peru (AP) --Former president Alberto Fujimori and his Ecuadorean counterpart Jamil Mahuad both saw their terms cut short amid turmoil about three years ago. A new video shows they had something else in common -- a mysterious soothsayer to advise them.

"Dr. Mahuad, my great friend, told me about you," Fujimori told a clairvoyant in a video filmed at the Government Palace, probably in early September 2000....
<snip>
..."What would happen if I momentarily left Peru to go to, say, the United States or Japan?" Fujimori later asked in the video.

"That would be a good idea," the clairvoyant replied.

Two months after the Montesinos video scandal blew up, Fujimori left for Asia on a supposedly official trip to a summit in Brunei. He sent his resignation letter from Japan in late November.

Wanted by Peruvian authorities on more than a dozen charges ranging from corruption to authorizing death squads, Fujimori remains in Tokyo, protected from extradition by citizenship passed on to him through his Japanese-born parents.

The toast of right-wing Tokyo society, Fujimori writes books and has even vowed to run again for Peru's presidency in 2006, although Congress banned him from doing so until 2011.

Fujimori and Mahuad hit it off while brokering an end to a border conflict between their nations in 1998.

It was unclear what tips the fortune teller gave Mahuad, now a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.