The Revenge of the Incas

The Supreme Court of Perú has affirmed Alberto Fujimori's 25-year sentence for 25 murders and one kidnapping during his regime. Fujimori, once the darling of the neoliberal set, was a businessman - turned - politician who prided himself on being tough on Shining Path, the guerrilla group, and leading Perú on the path to economic bloom.

But, as so many others before him, he was nothing more than a cheap dictator in nice clothes. Pretty soon, his cronies - especially Valdimir Montesinos - were running the corruption show, while killing and torturing left and left. The U.S., eager to embrace anybody who even poses as anti-communist, conveniently, looked the other way. He was a bastard, but he was their bastard.

Finally, justice of a sorts has been done. Of course, Fujimori is guilty of much more than he has been found guilty of. But, unlike Pinochet - another U.S. protegé - he hasn't gotten away with murder.

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