Monday, 14th December, Lima: Another Fujimori for president?
There is one name which has always fascinated me about Peru: Fujimori. How can such a Japanese name be such a big part of a country’s recent history? From thousands of miles away, culturally and politically entirely ignorant, I found it hilarious, bizarre, and totally un-South American.
Alberto Fujimori, son of Japanese immigrants to Peru, was elected president of the country in 1990. His ten years were a tenure of both good and bad and he is now in prison. I need to spend some time on Wiki before I can fill you in on the juicy details, but all you need to know is that he is a big old cheese in Peru.
And so it ended in ignominy, anger and shame. Fujimori is now serving 25 years in a Peruvian prison, and the country moves on. But perhaps its future is once again Fujimori – this time in the form of his eldest daughter (and first lady, somewhat unexpectedly), Keiko.
Somehow, we manage to get an interview with Keiko and her husband of 5 years, Mark. We knew from the get go that we wanted to interview them (having, in our usual simplistic way, reduced Peru to ceviche, pisco and Fujimori), the difficulty was how to get hold of them. From our various contacts here in Lima, we sent out various appeals: one friend plays poker with Mark but only has his facebook details; Antonio Meier, mayor of San Isidro and wife of Gladys Zender who we interviewed, said that he would try to reach her through connections in Congress; a cousin of mine had a friend who worked in Congress who would also try, and finally, El Peruano said that they would help us to get hold of them. 4 leads, but still 2 weeks to yield fruit… Mark, a high powered management consultant, spends his working week in Arizona, and was only due back on the evening of Sunday night. He emailed me (the poker connection came good) to apologise profusely (and to offer to film themselves answering the questions) and say that he spends a chunk of his time away from the family home. Mike and I agreed a date, and decided to wait an extra 5 days in Lima in order to meet the couple in their family home.
Mark comes out to greet us. Instead of the corporate tough guy that I was expecting, he is more mild-mannered and kind from the outset. He laughs with us at the bike, and we head into the house for the interview. There are sounds from upstairs of little people (their littlest daughter is 5 months old), and soon Keiko appears from the kitchen. I like her immediately. She has a warm, smiling face, prettier than the photos I’d found of her on the web. She’s relaxed and open, and the 4 of us are laughing and chatting in no time. We choose to film them on a sofa, below a large painting done by Keiko. It’s very good, and she explains that for a charity event, she was partnered with a reknowned Peruvian artist to paint a picture which was then to be auctioned. She said modestly that she’s not particularly good at art, but that working with the painter (whose name I have currently forgotten, apologies…) was inspiring. It came to the auction and she wanted to buy the painting, she repeatedly raised her paddle, but eventually was outbid by a large bank. She was gutted. Three days later, the painting is presented to her father at the presidential palace, and she has had it ever since.
I explain that we are not here to grill her about her father or her political agenda, this is simply a celebration of love and we want to hear their love story. Given that she is planning to run for president of Peru in 2011, we promise that she can have right to edit any TV content we produce. Even at the end, she laughs and says that she is very happy to authorise us to use the interview. Mark’s spoken Spanish is still not entirely second nature, so we agree happily to do the interview with Mark speaking English and Keiko in Spanish.
Their love story is enchanting, like the stuff of Hollywood movies – a kind of real life Princess Diaries. When Keiko’s parents separated, Keiko became the youngest first lady in the world, aged 19 (?). Any notion of a normal dating life had gone out the window when her father was elected, and now she really didn’t stand a chance. She was known in Peru everywhere she went, and by her own admission, when boys showed interest, she was never sure if they were dating her or “Keiko Fujimori”, the persona.
Flashforward three years, and Keiko decides to go to the States to do an MBA. Columbia University was her first choice because it has a strong financial reputation and is located, of course, in New York. She and her sister head to New York for a couple of weeks to see the place. She is being shown round the university, and has just left one of the campus buildings, when a boy walking past the steps below her catches her eye. Handsome and with a captivating aura, she looks at him and the two make eye contact. Something sparks. For both of them.
Mark comes over to say hello and offers to show Keiko and her sister round, he then asks where they will be that evening. Keiko explains that they have plans to go to a local bar, and Mark exclaims, what a coincidence, I’m going to be there too (that old chestnut). He turns up at the bar that evening, Keiko and he talk all night, and at the end of the evening, he asks for her phone number.
Well, giving out your phone number when you’re the president’s daughter is not encouraged. And to strangers, it is strictly forbidden. Keiko’s sister is horrified and tells her that she can’t do it – such that Mark thinks that the sister really doesn’t like him. But Keiko has a good feeling about this guy and knows he’s going to call, so breaks all protocol and gives him her number. And indeed he does call, the very next day.
Keiko is a great cook, so before he even calls, she decides to cook a dinner in her apartment that evening (not least so that when Mark calls, which she knows he will, she can say casually that she’s cooking dinner for friends and why doesn’t he join?). Mark does indeed call, the invitation is made and he joins a group of them for dinner in the flat. Keiko says that Mark fits so naturally into the dynamic of the dinner, everyone really liked him (except her sister who remained extremely wary of him) and Keiko was entirely smitten. As was Mark himself.
The two of them start seeing each other regularly. Mark asks Keiko to change her flight, and she duly does, and the two of them are falling completely in love. All the while, Mark has no idea who Keiko is.
One evening, he is round at the flat, and he picks up a Peruvian magazine to flick through it. Keiko sister says urgently to her in Spanish “he shouldn’t be reading that magazine, it has a photo in it”. Mark doesn’t speak any Spanish, but he does understand “no” and “photo” so his ears prick up and he immediately looks to Keiko – “can I read it?” he asks uncomprehendingly. She says yes, of course, trying to dispel the tension and his anxiety.
He flicks through it, until his eyes fall on a picture of Alberto Fujimori, with the heading “President of Peru”. He looks to Keiko and says “this man has your surname…” at which point, the truth comes out, Keiko’s father is the president of Peru.
Suddenly, the rug is pulled from beneath Mark’s world. This wonderful, headstrong, fun girl he had fallen in love with had a whole history that he knew nothing about. He felt lied to, totally betrayed, and said, sadly and sternly, “I have to leave now”. He walked across the apartment to the door and was turning the handle to leave when Keiko ran across the room and begged him to stay. She said to him, “the girl you have met and got to know over the last few weeks, that girl is me. I think you love her, and I know I’m falling in love with you. Please please don’t go.”
At this point in the interview, Keiko is crying. They are taking it in turns to recount the story, and the effect for us is deeply moving and entirely gripping. Mike is crying too, of course, and Mark has welled up. Later, they will tell us that this is the first time that they have ever recounted this story to the press, and Keiko will say that she never cries, not even when her father was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
Back to the story, and Mark stayed. He, a regular – if very bright – boy from an Italian-American family in New Jersey, had indeed fallen in love with Keiko for who she was, and she had a chance to get to know him, and to fall in love with him, knowing that.
Well, then Keiko’s background had to come to the foreground. She had to return to Peru a week or so later. Mark accompanied her, but remained far from the glaring eye of the Peruvian press on that first trip. They had a chance to go to Machu Picchu, and for Mark to see a little of the country. He liked it very much – which was a big deal for Keiko, because she knew eventually, Peru would have to be a part of any future they could share together.
Keiko attended Columbia Business School, and she and Mark had two blissful years of relationship away from Peru’s curious eyes and her status there. They were just regular Joes, living life in New York.
Keiko’s father, meanwhile, had decided to return from his exile in Japan to face the legislative consequences in Peru. Keiko had to testify at his trial. Mark has got a very good job with a top consultancy firm, and the future of the pair looks good in the States. Keiko’s father calls her to him and suggests to her that she should consider running for office in Peru. This is a big big decision for the pair as it would mean them leaving the States and returning to Peru, leaving a life of relative anonymity for a life in the public eye. Keiko says she has to discuss it with Mark. Despite how difficult the decision was, Mark was in no doubt. (Mark’s mother was less sold on the idea – “you have a great education here [in the US], a great future and all you need here! Why would you return to Peru?!” she asked Keiko, before storming out of the house]. He could see that Keiko had a vital role to play in Peru, and the country needed her. He said that his own individual needs paled in comparison to those of 27 million people. And so Keiko returned.
She ran for Congress in 2006 and got the highest number of votes of any candidate. Mark took a 6 week sabbatical from his company and campaigned with her. The two of them are now gearing up for her 2011 presidential bid. Mark continues to work in consultancy. It’s easy to see that he is fiendishly bright and good at what he does. The hard part is that his work requires him to be away from his family during the week (he says that he tries to return to Lima as often as he can – once a week or once a fortnight). Keiko works really hard herself – the little girls have a long nap in the afternoon so that she can see them when she gets home later in the evening. Little Chiara, 2 years old and totally adorable, is over the moon to have her daddy home and doesn’t like to be away from him, only really smiling when she is in his arms. It’s hard, they say, but they are making it work.
Mark said it took him a while to get used to the press attention. There was one moment where he arrived at the end of Keiko’s bridal shower. The car pulled up and he opened the door, to be blinded by a wall of flash bulbs and questions. A gentle soul, he found it fiendishly intimidating and, disorientated, he walked into a wall. They hounded him with questions, and, speaking little or no Spanish, he said – and I paraphrase slightly, I apologise – “I think Keiko is the most wonderful woman in the world”. The hearts of a nation melted.
When we ask people what they think of Mark, the response is universal – gringo, but he seems like a genuinely good and nice human being. Which he does indeed seem to be – the boy from New Jersey whose mother makes delicious Italian meals (which she has now taught Keiko) and wants her son to be happy. He’s polite and kind, and so supportive and proud of his wife that it’s palpable.
When we ask people what they think of Keiko, the response is mostly positive, with some strong negative feelings (’twas ever thus with politics). People think she is a great person, a lot of people love her and think that hope rests with her. Some tangle her name with that of her father and inevitably, she is tarnished by that – though still, for some, that has extremely positive associations – the man who rid the country of Shining Path, needless violence and narco hell, and put it on the map.
A totally fascinating interview – both for the story of individuals, but the bigger role of the country.
