At Work Around the World

Peru

In September 2000, in conjunction with The Carter Center declaring presidential elections fraudulent, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori agreed to shorten his term and called for new elections in 2001, announcing that he would not be a candidate.

Building Hope

Peru faces many of the same challenges of other modern Latin American states struggling to deepen democratic practices and develop economically. In the first decade of the 21st century, The Carter Center helped the people of Peru promote human rights, make their political will heard, and preserve regional peace, building hope for a future as unique as the nation's past.

Waging Peace

Mapping the Media's Influence on Elections

Breakthrough interactive and Web-based maps detailing media coverage during national elections were unveiled in February 2006 by The Carter Center, the University of Calgary, and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Leading up to Peru's national elections, these breakthrough interactive and Web-based maps will contribute to strengthening political processes. Peru is one of 12 countries being mapped with the new technology to provide visual context to the lines of influence the media has in shaping the campaign finance environment. Developed using state-of-the-art Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, the maps are designed to increase transparency in campaign finance reform and democracy-building efforts by illustrating where media are located, how far they broadcast, who owns them, and what the demographic profile is of the electoral constituencies they reach.

Throughout the Western Hemisphere, media play an increasingly important role in transmitting information about elections and candidates. The outcomes of electoral races may be altered by financial disparities, especially where media ownership is concentrated and owners offer price discounts to their preferred candidates. Yet there is comparatively little information about the media available to citizens; these new maps are another step to ensuring an informed electorate.

The maps may be viewed at http://www.mediamap.info.

Monitoring Elections

Peru President Alberto Fujimori was first elected in 1990, amended the constitution so he could run for a second term, and was widely criticized during those two five-year terms for undemocratic practices. During a 1992 coup against him, he shut down the Congress and Supreme Court, replacing them with a legislature and judiciary that leaned in his favor. His intelligence service intimidated his critics into silence, and independent media outlets were shut down. When he decided to run for a third term and three judges said such a move would be unconstitutional, he dismissed them. The Carter Center and others in the international community became increasing concerned as they saw these developments unfold.
Given these events, The Carter Center and its partner, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, were welcomed by Peruvian civil society groups and the electoral authorities as international observers. Prior to the April 9, 2000, election day, The Carter Center and the NDI made three assessment missions. The Center and NDI publicly identified numerous issues that led them to conclude irreparable damage was done to the electoral process and that it fell far below international standards. Election day was in jeopardy, and the Center and NDI asked President Alberto Fujimori to postpone the April 9 presidential and legislative elections, but he declined.

The Center and NDI sent a small mission to observe voting April 9. The mission saw many of the same flaws other observers did: pre-marked ballots in favor of Fujimori; ballots missing the listing of opponent Alejandro Toledo; attempted intimidation by police and the military; inexplicable delays in the vote-computing process; and in a significant number of polling stations, more ballots cast than the number of voters assigned to the poll site.
Peruvian election officials called for a May 28, 2000, runoff since neither presidential candidate received 50 percent of the vote. A Carter Center/NDI assessment team found a free and fair runoff was not possible under such conditions as unequal access to the media, media bias favoring the incumbent, smear campaigns against Peruvian election monitors and opposition candidates, and misuse of state funds for campaign purposes. Since those fundamental flaws were not rectified and Toledo withdrew from the runoff, the Center and NDI declined to observe the runoff.

 
After the fraudulent May runoff, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Barbados Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford, and former Costa Rica President Rodrigo Carazo, who led one of the Center's assessment missions to Peru, called on the Organization of American States to send a special mission to Peru to develop remedies to the legitimacy crisis, which the OAS did. The Center and NDI returned to Peru in July 2000 to meet with Peruvian political and civic groups, though Fujimori's government declined offers to meet with the delegation. At the conclusion of their mission, the team called for shortening of President Fujimori's term and for new elections. In September 2000, Fujimori agreed to shorten his term, called for new elections in 2001, and announced he would not be a candidate. He later fled the country in December amid a corruption scandal and resigned the presidency from exile in Japan.

 
During the subsequent April 2001 presidential election, The Carter Center and NDI returned, noting widespread delay of poll openings, and in a few instances, polls did not open at all. Of the 564 polling stations the delegation visited, 72 percent functioned well, 26 percent had minimum problems, and 2 percent had significant problems. The delegation urged improved training for poll workers and voters but, overall, found that Peru had made remarkable progress since the fraudulent election of May 2000. Toledo, who entered the race again, and his opponent, former President Alan Garcia, headed to a runoff in early June.

The Center and NDI sent its ninth delegation to Peru since November 1999 to observe the runoff. Their delegation, led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, former Guatemala President Ramiro de Leon Carpio, and former Costa Rica President Rodrigo Carazo Odio, observed a peaceful and well-organized runoff, in which Toledo emerged as the people's choice.

At the end of his first year in office, President Toledo convened a national dialogue of all political parties and civil society representatives to set a framework for governance. He asked The Carter Center to help assure the dialogue's success by providing international advisers. On behalf of the Center and its Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, former Costa Rica President Rodrigo Carazo advised the national dialogue and visited Peru on three occasions to participate in the process that resulted in a consensus document.

Defending Human Rights

President Carter issued a statement to the media in May 1996, calling for the Peruvian government to provide a civilian court trial for Lori Berenson, a young American woman convicted of treason by a military tribunal in Peru. Ms. Berenson's trial was in a secret military court, where her lawyer was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses or challenge evidence. In the statement, President Carter said he was "deeply concerned that Lori Berenson has not been afforded her rights of due process by law." In a television interview in June 1998, Peru's Prime Minister Javier Valle Riestra stated that Ms. Berenson should be freed from her cell and expelled. Within a week of that statement, President Carter wrote a letter to Prime Minister Valle Riestra offering his support and assistance in working to free Ms. Berenson.
In February 1999, after three years of fact-finding, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Ms. Berenson had been arbitrarily deprived of her liberty in violation of various articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peru is a signatory to the treaty, and the case is in the process of being brought before the Inter-American Court. The Carter Center continues to follow the case at the request of her family.

Read more about the Carter Center's human rights initiatives.  

Mediating Conflict

During the resurgence of violence between Ecuador and Peru in 1995, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Costa Rica President Oscar Arias issued a message urging peace between the two nations. They requested negotiations and a cease-fire to restore peace in the region. Both leaders are members of the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas.

Learn more about the Carter Center's Americas Program.

Updated May 2006

Election Reports

Postelection Statement on Peru Elections, June 4, 2001(PDF)

Declaración post-electoral sobre las elecciones en Peru, abril de 9 de 2001
Esta declaración ha sido elaborada por la Delegación de Observación Electoral Internacional Conjunta del Instituto Nacional Demócrata (NDI)/ Centro Carter al Perú para las elecciones presidenciales y congresales extraordinarias del 8 de Abril de 2001. La Delegación visitó el Perú del 4 al 10 de Abril, incluyó 35 miembros de 11 países, y fue encabezada por el Sr.

Postelection Statement on Peru Elections, April 9, 2001
This statement is offered by the joint National Democratic Institute /Carter Center international election observer delegation to Peru's April 8, 2001, extraordinary presidential and congressional elections.

Declaración pre-electoral sobre las elecciones en Peru, enero de 26 del 2001(PDF)
Declaración De La Delegación PreElectoral Al Perú Del Instituto Nacional Demócrata /Centro Carter.
 
Pre-election Statement on Peru Elections, Jan. 26, 2001
This statement is offered by an international pre-election delegation to Peru, organized jointly by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and The Carter Center.

Peru 2001 Interim Report (PDF)
Peru's 2001 elections represented an extraordinary accomplishment in the process of returning Peru to the world community of democracies. Hundreds of thousands of Peruvians helped to ensure the integrity of the election process, sending a clear message of their desire and determination to establish a government based on a democratic electoral mandate.

Peru 2001 Interim Report (Spanish) (PDF)
Las elecciones de Perú del 2001 representaron un logro extraordinario en el proceso de devolver el Perú a la comunidad democrática mundial. Cientos de miles de peruanos ayudaron a asegurar la integridad del proceso electoral, enviando así un mensaje claro de su deseo y determinación de establecer un gobierno basado en un mandato electoral democrático. 

Pre-election Statement on Peru Elections, May 25, 2000
Since last December, four successive observer missions, sponsored jointly by the National Democratic Institute and The Carter Center, have pointed to fundamental flaws in Peru's electoral process.
 
Pre-election Statement on Peru Elections, May 5, 2000
This statement is offered by an international pre-election delegation to Peru, organized jointly by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and The Carter Center. The delegation visited Peru from April 30 through May 5, 2000. This is the fourth in a series of NDI/Carter Center delegations that have observed Peru's election process thus far.

Pre-election Statement on Peru Elections, March 24, 2000
This statement is offered by an international pre-election delegation to Peru, organized jointly by the National Democratic Institute and The Carter Center. The delegation visited Peru from March 17 through March 24, 2000. This is the third in a series of NDI/Carter Center delegations that have observed the pre-election period

Pre-election Statement on Peru Elections, Feb. 11, 2000
This statement is offered by an international pre-election delegation to Peru, organized jointly by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and The Carter Center. The delegation visited Peru from Feb. 7 through Feb. 11, 2000. This is the second in a planned series of three NDI/Carter Center delegations that will observe the pre-election period.

Observing the 2000 Peru Elections, Final Report (PDF)
At the request of Peruvian civic and political leaders and with an invitation from the Peruvian electoral authorities, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs  and The Carter Center agreed to organize a comprehensive international monitoring effort focusing first on the critical pre-election period. Prior to the voting on April 9, NDI and The Carter Center organized three high-level pre-election assessment missions and opened a Lima office in January 2000 to provide in-country monitoring of electoral developments.