The Monocle Minute

Since Alberto Fujimori left Peru’s presidency in 2000, his country has had an astonishing run of lousy luck in terms of its heads of state. Two of its subsequent presidents faced serious corruption charges, one of whom fled the country to avoid facing justice. Another shot himself as Lima’s finest prepared to bring him in. One resigned in disgrace after just five days in the job and another was removed via impeachment. And yet every member of this extraordinary roll call cleared the low bar set by Fujimori – as grotesque a scoundrel as has ever been elected as a national leader.

In the 1980s, after a blameless career as an academic teaching agricultural engineering and mathematics, Fujimori began hosting a television programme about farming called Concertando, which gave him a public profile. He leveraged this to run in the 1990 Peruvian election. To general surprise, he won. Two weeks after being sworn in, he imposed the same programme of budget-slashing austerity that he had run against: Peruvians called it “Fujishock”, referring to both the policies themselves and to the screeching 180-degree turn.

In 1992 he carried out a self-coup, suspending Congress and the constitution. He was nevertheless re-elected in 1995 by Peruvians who were grateful for his defeat of pestilential Maoist guerillas Shining Path. He won again in 2000 in dubious circumstances, then resigned via fax during a visit to his ancestral home of Japan. In 2005 he chartered a private jet to Chile, where police placed him under house arrest – but in 2007, possibly to pass the time, he ran for a seat in Japan’s upper house, which he did not win.

Incredibly, the Fujimori name remained a potent political brand in Peru. One of his daughters, Keiko, leads the Popular Force party and has fallen narrowly short of winning Peru’s presidency three times. One of his sons, Kenji, was a congressman before he was suspended over accusations of influence-peddling.

After his extradition back to Peru, Fujimori was convicted of a slate of charges including corruption, abuse of power and overseeing paramilitary death squads responsible for dozens of murders and kidnappings. He was sentenced to rather more time than he had left. The lesson about encouraging anti-establishment candidates with their own TV shows to run for the presidency languished unheeded.

Andrew Mueller is a contributing editor at Monocle and the presenter of ‘The Foreign Desk’ on Monocle Radio. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Passengers looking out onto Zürich Airport’s runways might be intrigued by a new sight: small, bubble-like cars zipping between aircraft. Three of these two-seater electric vehicles, made by Küsnacht-based brand Microlino, are now ferrying the staff of Switzerland’s flag carrier, Swiss, between tasks on the tarmac. A partnership was signed between the two brands this summer.

“Bigger cars can do other jobs, such as transporting maintenance teams, luggage and tools,” Marcus di Laurenzio, Swiss’s project manager, told Monocle during a recent visit. “But Microlino offered us exactly what we needed for other members of our team. The car is designed to travel short distances with a maximum of two people, which is perfect for our staff as they move between meetings at our headquarters and logistics operations at the airport hangars.” Di Laurenzio adds that the decision to work with Microlino was partly about celebrating the power of a country’s best transport brands coming together.

For more unlikely finds, insights and ideas from our global network of reporters, buy a copy of the September issue of Monocle, which is out now.

Inspired by the secret Parisian garden atop its Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré boutique and the nearby Tuileries Gardens, French fashion house Hermès has paired up with UK artist Jonathan Baldock to create a series of autumnal worlds in the windows of its New Bond Street flagship. The designs encourage passers-by to play a game of hide and seek to discover fantastical characters hidden among the branches and alongside pieces from the Hermès autumn-winter 2024 collection.

The project, entitled “Take a Peek”, is a celebration of the art of window dressing, which remains an essential part of the retail formula. It’s also a good reminder of the importance of staying light-hearted, even when dealing with serious luxury. Should you visit the shop, look out for the house’s newly launched fragrance, Barénia, which blends notes of patchouli and oakwood, and comes packaged in a sleek burgundy and ivory box.

All eyes were on Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center this Tuesday. This photograph captures the moment when reporters surrounded Donald Trump after his much-anticipated debate with the US vice-president, Kamala Harris. With less than two months to go before election day, both candidates made their cases during their first – and what might be their only – debate of the campaign season.

From the roads to the air, Monocle’s September issue looks at how we get from A to B. Inside, you’ll learn how Brussels eased out of the automobile with a radical mobility plan called Good Move, and meet the movers and shakers in commercial aviation. So hop on your bike or the nearest light rail to pick up Monocle’s latest issue today.