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The day Fujimori tendered his resignation, the Movement of Evangelicals for Democracy (MED) declared, "We believe the prayers of thousands of Christians have been heard by the God of justice and truth, who surely rejoices with us today over the unmasking and fall of a regime that was the embodiment of iniquity."

The statement called on Peruvian Christians to "deeply meditate on the lessons that these past ten years have left us. The worst misfortune would be that we permit the vicious legacy of the culture of Fujimorism to remain alive in our personal, family, and national life."

The relationship began during the 1990 presidential campaign. Fujimori, a Roman Catholic, enlisted key evangelical church leaders to support his candidacy. Allies included Carlos GarcÍa, then president of the National Council of Evangelicals of Peru (CONEP). Stumping at ministers' meetings and church rallies, Fujimori told Protestant audiences that the political philosophy of his fledgling Cambio 90 party was based on the "twin pillars of the Constitution and the Bible."

Hundreds of thousands of evangelical voters, eager to bring about political and social change, supported him and GarcÍa, who joined the Cambio 90 ticket as a vice-presidential candidate. Protestants accounted for less than 7 percent of voters in Peru, but their endorsement of Fujimori produced a groundswell of favorable public opinion. To everyone's astonishment—including the candidates'—Cambio 90 swept the elections, catapulting Fujimori, GarcÍa, and 17 evangelical congressmen into office.

Within days of assuming office, however, the new president cut GarcÍa out of his administration and blocked evangelicals from congressional leadership posts. Fourteen months later, Fujimori threw them out of government entirely. Claiming extraordinary powers to deal with the Shining Path guerrilla movement, which was terrorizing the country, he disbanded Congress, suspended the Constitution, and began ruling the country by decree.

Evangelicals not only found themselves out of power; some found themselves in jail. Harsh antiterrorism laws decreed by Fujimori in 1992 put thousands of innocent Peruvians in prison. At least 300 evangelical Christians were among them, according to the Peace and Hope Association, a CONEP-affiliated human-rights organization. Peace and Hope's efforts to free the falsely accused helped expose the dark side of the Fujimori regime, a world of death squads, false arrest, torture, and intimidation.

Despite Fujimori's shabby treatment of evangelicals, many continued to support his presidency, largely because of his success in defeating the Shining Path. One college student, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister in Ayacucho, suffered arrest and torture as a suspected terrorist. Nonetheless, last year she said she believed Fujimori was the only person who could ensure that the Shining Path would not make a comeback.

Support for Fujimori began to erode, however, when he announced his candidacy for a third term. In January 2000, CONEP called for "all Christians of Peru and the world" to unite and prevent the "unconstitutional continuation" of Fujimori's presidency. When the president was reelected in April, Peace and Hope united with other evangelical ministries to form MED, which in turn joined labor unions, professional guilds, and student groups to organize public protests against the regime.

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February 5 2001, Vol. 45, No. 2