Keep the Pressure on Peru

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, with the help of the state’s security apparatus, staged an electoral farce Sunday that gave him an unprecedented third term and his country the promise of continued turmoil.

Alejandro Toledo, a Stanford-trained economist who forced a runoff with Fujimori in April, withdrew from the second round. He was convinced that Sunday’s runoff would not be fair, and he was right. His fears were shared by many, including Eduardo Stein, head of the Organization of American States monitoring team, who left Peru Friday declaring himself “deceived and disappointed” with the way the voting was conducted.

Fujimori’s office moved ahead with the election without participation of independent domestic and international observers. Even then, the president got only slightly more than half the votes cast.

The rest of the voters, and those who face a fine because they did not vote, will present Fujimori with a shaky platform from which to govern. The United States, Canada, France, Costa Rica and Argentina already have condemned his election tactics. Washington should go further and review its policies toward Peru in international lending organizations and bilateral military arrangements.

The State Department declared the election “not valid,” adding, “No president emerging from such a flawed process can claim legitimacy.” But Fujimori knows that the current political instability throughout the Andean republics makes it hard for the United States to cut back on regional aid, including military assistance to Peru.

While the United States and Peru’s neighbors had no direct stake in the election, they have a significant role to play in continuing to press for political reform in Peru. Democracy does not require a regular turnover in leaders, but it does demand a fair contest. That was not the case last Sunday in Peru.