PERU'S PRESIDENT TO RESIGN SOON, TOP AIDES SAY

LIMA, Peru, Nov. 19 -- Signaling the demise of one of Latin America's most
authoritarian rulers, two top officials announced today that President
Alberto K. Fujimori would resign by Tuesday, ending a tumultuous decade in
power that saw him do battle with terrorists, drug traffickers and
hyperinflation before succumbing to a series of scandals.

Second Vice President Ricardo Marquez, who until recently was a political
unknown, said he was ready to take the reins of power until a new president
could be elected in April and inaugurated on July 28.

"President Alberto Fujimori will present his resignation to Congress on
Monday or Tuesday at the latest," Prime Minister Federico Salas said on a
national radio network.

He stopped short of explaining why Mr. Fujimori, Latin America's second
longest surviving leader, after Fidel Castro, was stepping down so suddenly,
but he added, "What I know is that he does not want to be an obstacle to the
process of democratization so that the next elections can be absolutely
transparent."

There was no immediate word from Mr. Fujimori, who is visiting Japan, but
the Peruvian Embassy in Tokyo issued a brief statement saying the president
intended to resign within 48 hours. An embassy official who declined to be
identified said nothing had been decided about Mr. Fujimori's plans for the
future.

Peru's cabinet ministers presented their resignations to Prime Minister
Salas, expressing indignation over the surprise announcement. But the three
most senior members said they would continue carrying out their duties until
a new transitional government is formed.

The announcements capped nine weeks in which his stature, once near
invincible, has been in free fall. His move appeared to surprise the Clinton
administration, which sent two senior officials to Lima to meet with
government and opposition officials and discuss the next steps.

President Fujimori had gradually lost his grip on power since winning a
third five-year term in May in an election that was widely perceived as
tainted. The nose dive began in mid- September when a videotape leaked to a
local cable television channel showed Mr. Fujimori's right-hand man, the
intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos, apparently offering a $15,000 bribe
to a congressman to switch parties.

The tape was the opening act in a gripping political drama: Mr. Fujimori
attempted to save himself by dumping Mr. Montesinos, even over the
opposition of military commanders, and promising that a new president would
take office next July.

Next, Mr. Montesinos resigned and flew to Panama seeking asylum, but
returned to Peru and went into hiding last month. Mr. Fujimori ordered the
arrest of Mr. Montesinos, who is considered to know all Peru's best-kept
secrets, and even led the manhunt. But the intelligence chief remains at
large, as reports emerge of several foreign bank accounts in which Mr.
Montesinos is said to have squirreled away at least $58 million.

In Washington, administration officials said Prime Minister Salas had
telephoned the United States Ambassador to Peru, John R. Hamilton, to tell
him that Mr. Fujimori would be staying in Japan indefinitely.

Following Mr. Salas's call, Arturo Valenzuela, the director for Latin
American affairs on the National Security Council, and Peter Romero, the
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, flew to Lima.
The two men had been planning a trip even before today's developments,
officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Fujimori, a son of Japanese
immigrants, would return to Peru or remain in Japan.

In Tokyo, a foreign ministry official said nothing had been decided about
Mr. Fujimori's stay in the country, adding that there had been no request
for asylum. Because Mr. Fujimori is of pure Japanese parentage, under
Japanese law he is automatically eligible for citizenship.

In Mr. Fujimori's absence last week, various opposition parties took control
of Congress and elected a centrist congressman, Valentin Paniagua, as the
leader of Congress. Should the opposition decide to remove the little known
Mr. Marquez from power before the elections, scheduled for April 8, Mr.
Paniagua could take over as president.

Alejandro Toledo, who ran closely behind Mr. Fujimori in the first round of
this year's election before dropping out of the second round, saying it was
unfair, said tonight that Mr. Marquez should not assume the presidency since
"he was elected in the same fraudulent election."

Speaking from Madrid, Mr. Toledo suggested that Mr. Paniagua should lead a
transition government.

Reaction by Peruvians to the news was muted. There were small, celebratory
demonstrations in the cities of Lima, Trujillo and Iquitos. And in Arequipa,
the second largest city and a center of anti-Fujimori activism, students
splashed each other in spontaneous water fights.

Political analysts said that while Mr. Fujimori had seemed to sidestep the
immediate threat posed by Mr. Montesinos's return to Peru, the president had
been unable to contain a groundswell of opposition from political foes and
ordinary Peruvians.

During the last few weeks, their anger was fed by one lurid news report
after another: the seizure of Mr. Montesinos's bank accounts; a claim by the
brother of Colombia's late drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar, that Mr. Escobar had
secretly financed Mr. Fujimori's first election campaign; and the discovery
of secret detention centers under Mr. Montesinos' former headquarters.

Should Mr. Fujimori come back to Lima, he could face an inquiry into his
financial dealings from prosecutors already investigating Mr. Montesinos.
They are looking into charges that Mr. Montesinos was involved in running
guns to Colombian guerrillas, laundering money and directing death squads.

A former college professor, Mr. Fujimori, now 62, emerged from obscurity in
1990 to defeat the writer Mario Vargas Llosa and win the presidency.

Facing a growing security threat from two terrorist groups and unable to
persuade Congress to enact his program, he suspended the legislature and the
Supreme Court in 1992. He defied the United States and the Organization of
American States by taking nearly dictatorial powers, but his move was
broadly endorsed by the Peruvian people, who handed him a landslide election
victory in 1995.

Even critics say Mr. Fujimori has accomplished much as president, virtually
defeating the two terrorist groups, reducing inflation to single digits,
making peace with Ecuador after several wars and significantly reducing both
coca cultivation and trafficking in cocaine.

But his often high-handed style undercut the independence of the courts and
Congress, and landed hundreds if not thousands of innocent people in prison.

Mr. Fujimori used much of his second term maneuvering to make way for a
third term, which seemed not to be allowed by the Constitution. Controlling
the new Congress and courts, Mr. Fujimori was able to get around this
roadblock but a recession has eroded his popularity.

This year he relied on Mr. Montesinos to defeat a growing opposition, but
many Peruvians found the manipulation of media and the electoral apparatus
difficult to accept.

Prime Minister Salas said Mr. Fujimori had not ruled out running for
Congress, which could give him immunity from prosecution. Mr. Fujimori has
hinted that he would like to make a comeback and win back the presidency in
the future.

Second Vice President Marquez, who replaced First Vice President Francisco
Tudela after he resigned last month, said Mr. Fujimori had asked him to take
power once his resignation took effect.