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Editorials
Wednesday, May 31, 2000Sanctions are needed
to protest Peru voteALBERTO Fujimori has again defied the international community by going ahead with a presidential election despite appeals for a delay to give inspectors more time to validate a newly installed vote-counting system and deal with other problems. The Organization of American States withdrew its observers after the government refused to postpone the election.The issue: Peru is receiving strong criticism for proceeding with a presidential election won by incumbent Alberto Fujimori.
The United States called the decision to proceed with the election and Fujimori's victory -- by just over 50 percent of the vote, according to official figures -- a serious threat to democracy in Latin America. Sanctions may follow, but it is doubtful that they will force Fujimori to back down. They never have.
In 1992, Fujimori faced international condemnation when he sent tanks into the streets and closed down a Congress he said was corrupt and ineffectual. Three years later he won a landslide re-election victory.
The president, elected to a controversial third term, insisted that the election was fair although the opposition candidate, Alejandro Toledo, urged a boycott to protest Fujimori's insistence on proceeding with the vote and the danger that he would employ fraud to win.
Toledo, a former economist with the World Bank, vowed to organize protests that would prevent Fujimori from taking the oath of office.
Fujimori promised to strengthen democracy and correct his government's mistakes. He urged Peruvians to put their political divisions behind them and work for the country's development.
But the response to his claims was skeptical. A spokesman at the State Department said the United States has been "deeply concerned about the manner in which this election was conducted."
Fujimori, a former professor and the son of Japanese immigrants, has transformed Peru in the 10 years of his presidency. He defeated the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and revived a failing economy. He has also been an ally of the United States in fighting the illegal drug trade. Peru is a major source of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine.
But Fujimori's high-handed methods have brought severe criticism. He has used the government intelligence service for his own ends and controlled Peru's broadcast media.
His candidacy for a third term was made possible by legislation that circumvented a constitutional limit.
Fujimori's insistence on proceeding with the election heightens Washington's concerns about the state of democracy in the Andes region following a coup in Ecuador in January. Colombia is in a virtual state of siege by the drug gangs. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez has shown authoritarian tendencies.
Peru is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid in South America, receiving $128 million for military, anti-drug and humanitarian purposes, which could be withheld.
In addition, Washington could block loans from the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Some of these programs should be cut.
SECRETARY of State Madeleine Albright plans to confer with the OAS chief, Cesar Gaviria, and other regional leaders to coordinate a response. Whether such pressures would be effective against this stubborn and well-entrenched figure is uncertain. However, in view of Fujimori's defiance, a confrontation seems inevitable.
A fixture on the federal bench for most of the past half century, Martin Pence resigned his District Court judgeship four months ago. His death at age 95 is mourned by all who will remember Pence's keen mind, sharp humor and immense appreciation for the sanctity of the law. Martin Pence
Pence came to Hawaii in 1930 from his native Kansas and worked as a claims adjuster before hanging his law shingle on the Big Island. He became a Democratic leader on what was then a heavily Republican island and was elected county attorney in 1938.
President Truman appointed him as a territorial circuit judge in 1945. He returned to private practice five years later, but President Kennedy named him in 1961 to one of the two District Court judgeships that came with statehood.
Pence was noted most for his expertise in the area of antitrust law, leading to his designation as the primary judge of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in handling such cases.
The federal courthouse adjoining the Prince Kuhio Federal Office Building was erected largely because of Pence's insistence that it be separate from the office building. "We wanted to name the new courthouse after him, and he wouldn't let us, even though he was responsible for us getting it," said Senior District Judge Samuel King.
Few will quarrel with Judge King's assessment of Pence as "one of the great judges." He has been missed in the federal courthouse for the past four months, and his loss now is to the larger community.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
