Alberto Fujimori

Peru's president on Tuesday lifted a curfew he had decreed less than a day earlier in the country's capital and its main port in a bid to quell sometimes violent protests over rising fuel and food prices.

Peru’s former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori left hospital as a free man on Jan. 4, waving to supporters from a wheelchair and reigniting anger over a pardon he secured from President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Christmas Eve.

LIMA, Peru - Peruvian leader Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has pardoned former strongman Alberto Fujimori, convicted of grave human rights abuses, on dubious health grounds in an act that has provoked harsh criticism and protests.

Thousands of Peruvians marched on Dec. 28 to protest the president’s recent pardoning of former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, calling for new general elections as a graft scandal ensnares established politicians.

Peruvian police on Dec. 25 fired tear gas and clashed with protesters marching against the pardon of ailing ex-president Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses.

Peru’s jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and rights abuses, has been pardoned on humanitarian grounds, the presidency said on Dec. 24.

Peru's imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori backed his son on July 19 for "building bridges" with the government of centrist President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and issued a rare rebuke to the opposition party led by his daughter that now controls Congress.

Keiko Fujimori, daughter of an ex-president jailed for massacres, was heading April 11 for a runoff vote that could make her Peru's first female leader.

In an election marred by allegations of vote-buying and a day after a guerrilla attack left seven people dead, Fujimori, 40, had a double-digit lead over the second-place contender, centrist rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77.