Peru’s controversial ex-president Fujimori buried after national mourning

Peru has bid an emotional farewell to its divisive ex-president Alberto Fujimori after three days of national mourning marked by expressions of nostalgia for his iron-fisted rule.

Fujimori was revered by many in Peru for crushing a bloody leftist insurgency and helping shore up the economy while in office from 1990 to 2000.

He “had the guts to fight terrorism,” said Edgar Grados, a 43-year-old businessman, who travelled more than 100 kilometres to attend the funeral.

“Fujimorism never dies,” he said.

But for others, Fujimori was a power-hungry autocrat, who signed off on gross human rights abuses, for which he spent 16 years in prison.