Valentin Paniagua

Valentin Paniagua, a law professor who shepherded Peru back to democracy as interim president after the 2000 collapse of Alberto Fujimori's autocratic regime, died Monday. He was 69. Paniagua had been hospitalized in Lima with respiratory problems since undergoing surgery in August for inflammation of his heart membrane. The death of Paniagua, who governed Peru from November 2000 to July 2001, was announced by Jorge del Castillo, Peru's current cabinet chief.

Valentin Paniagua, a law professor who shepherded Peru back to democracy as interim president after the 2000 collapse of Alberto Fujimori's autocratic regime, died Monday. He was 69. Paniagua had been hospitalized in Lima with respiratory problems since undergoing surgery in August for inflammation of his heart membrane. The death of Paniagua, who governed Peru from November 2000 to July 2001, was announced by Jorge del Castillo, Peru's current cabinet chief.

In Peru and elsewhere, the term "caretaker government" does not usually convey an image of strength. That's why all the applause in Lima was heartening last week, when interim Peruvian President Valentin Paniagua introduced a Cabinet to lead a period of democratic reconstruction during the next eight months. The loudest ovation greeted the new interior minister, Antonio Ketin Vidal, a retired police general who became a national hero when he hunted down a notorious terrorist leader in 1992.

In Peru and elsewhere, the term "caretaker government" does not usually convey an image of strength. That's why all the applause in Lima was heartening last week, when interim Peruvian President Valentin Paniagua introduced a Cabinet to lead a period of democratic reconstruction during the next eight months. The loudest ovation greeted the new interior minister, Antonio Ketin Vidal, a retired police general who became a national hero when he hunted down a notorious terrorist leader in 1992.

President Alberto Fujimori formally resigned Peru's presidency in a letter sent from Japan on Monday, spreading anger and disbelief in his wake and paving the way for the opposition-led Congress to appoint his successor. On an emotional day filled with the echoes of a political strongman's precipitous fall, acting President Ricardo Marquez followed Fujimori's lead and stepped down as well.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who served for the last eight months as Peru's provisional Cabinet chief, said he has been named ambassador to France. Perez de Cuellar, 81, came out of retirement last year to serve as prime minister and foreign minister in the transitional government of Valentin Paniagua, interim president after the disgraced Alberto Fujimori fled to Japan.

President Bush urged Peruvian President-elect Alejandro Toledo on Tuesday to take humanitarian concerns into account when deciding whether to intervene in the case of an American woman convicted of collaborating with terrorists. In a brief meeting at the White House, Bush directly addressed the situation of 31-year-old Lori Berenson, who was sentenced last week in Peru to 20 years in prison for assisting the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

Ending a decade of authoritarian rule, Valentin Paniagua became Peru's interim president Wednesday and set out to restore credibility to the country's tattered democracy, naming a former U.N. chief as prime minister. Paniagua, a political moderate who is widely respected for his honesty and conciliatory style, took the oath of office to the cheers of his supporters in Congress two days after Alberto Fujimori resigned, forced out by a corruption scandal involving his top advisor.

Three new chiefs of Peru's armed forces pledged to respect the constitution and civilian authority Wednesday, taking office after their predecessors were forced out. Lt. Gen. Miguel Medina became the new head of the air force, Vice Adm. Luis Vargas will command the navy, and Gen. Jose Cacho will head the army.

Congress has granted amnesty to a renegade Peruvian army commander and his followers who staged a thwarted insurrection against then-President Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori's opponents now control Congress, which approved the amnesty late Thursday that clears the way for the mutineers to return to their posts. The uprising took place several weeks before Fujimori fled to Japan. The leader of the rebellion, Lt. Col.

President Alberto Fujimori formally resigned Peru's presidency in a letter sent from Japan on Monday, spreading anger and disbelief in his wake and paving the way for the opposition-led Congress to appoint his successor. On an emotional day filled with the echoes of a political strongman's precipitous fall, acting President Ricardo Marquez followed Fujimori's lead and stepped down as well.

Peru's interim president on Saturday took a step toward healing the country's battered democracy in the wake of President Alberto Fujimori's ouster by installing a 15-member Cabinet that within hours ordered a shake-up in the military. Valentin Paniagua and his new ministers aim to root out corruption in the army, police, judiciary and other government institutions before special elections are held April 8. A new president is to be inaugurated in July.

Alejandro Toledo, Peru's first freely elected president of Indian descent, was sworn in to office Saturday, promising to remain true to his roots and govern for the nation's poor. Toledo's assumption of the presidency seals the former shoeshine boy's remarkable rise and completes Peru's return to democracy after a decade of authoritarian rule by disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori.