Tokyo (AsiaNews) – The decision of Alberto Fujimori, ex president of Perù, to return to Latin America after five years as a refugee in the country of the rising sun, sparked the recall of the Peruvian Ambassador in Tokyo. The Japanese government today denied any connection between the two events, but when announcing the move yesterday, Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister, Oscar Maurtua, expressed his government's irritation "about the slowness and delays of the Japanese authorities with regard to the question of Fujimori's extradition, which was never answered".

Everything started in the early afternoon of 6 November: A smiling Fujimori stepped down from a private airplane in Santiago airport in Chile. He left suddenly and incognito from Japan. Although he is on Interpol's list of wanted men at the behest of the Peruvian government, the Chilean authorities initially allowed him to reach a hotel in the capital undisturbed.

It would be ingenuous to imagine that the Japanese government was unaware of the bold move by the former president, now fallen into disgrace. When questioned about this, Shinzo Abe, secretary-general of Koizumi's cabinet, declined to answer.

The news took everyone by surprise, including the government in Lima, which however lost no time in reacting. The Peruvian Ambassador in Chile immediately asked the Chilean government to arrest the "fugitive". Fujimori's freedom lasted only until 1am of the following day when local police apprehended him on the instruction of a High Court judge, who later denied the former president bail. Under Chilean law, a state of arrest can last for a maximum of two months.

In 2000, the Peruvian court issued a warrant for the arrest of the ex president, accusing him of 22 crimes centred around political corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people by death squads. Fujimori could not be arrested because during a return trip from Brunei, where he had attended an international conference, he stopped in Japan. He did not need to ask for political asylum. He was born in Peru to Japanese immigrants. The Tokyo government immediately gave him citizenship, a move which stalled international police intervention. Further, there is no extradition treaty between Japan and Peru.

The motive which prompted Fujimori to leave Japan is returning to Peru in time to present himself as a candidate for the presidential election which will be held on 9 April 2006. He had expressed this intention already in October during a conference held in Tokyo, saying "If I go back to my country I want to commit myself to resolving the problem of poverty facing aborigines". On touching down in Santiago, he defined Chile as a "leg in my return journey to Peru. I intend to maintain the promise made to a significant part of my people who asked me to present myself as a candidate for the presidential election".

In Peru, people instantly reacted. A group fuelled by opponents to the ex president gathered outside the Chilean Embassy in Lima to call for his extradition. One banner read: "Send the thief back". Groups for Fujimori, meanwhile, took to the streets of the capital shouting the slogan, "he kept his promise".

Fujimori's reasons for picking Chile as a step in his homecoming are political and diplomatic. Ties between Peru and Chile are strained because of a dispute regarding maritime borders between the two countries. On the other hand, in the 10 years of Fujimori's presidency, relations were excellent. This may be the reason why the ex president hoped not to be arrested in Chile. From a political point of view, electoral appeals launched from a Latin American country are much more effective than those made from Japan, poles apart from Peru.

The personal destiny of the ex president now seems to depend on the decision of the court. However, in this matter, the political and social destiny of the Peruvian people is also at stake. A columnist of the Japanese daily newspaper, Asahi, wrote: "The social and economic maturation process of developing nations passes through a period of confusion which seems to require governments of the dictatorial type. However together with economic progress, this phase is followed by that of authentic democratization.  In the final analysis, it will be the people of Peru who decide Fujimori's destiny. A return to tough government, apart from worsening division within the nation, will be severely judged by the international community.