Introduction

The Early 1990S Were A Critical Turning Point In the relationship between the United States and Peru. Whereas from the 1960s to the 1980s the relationship between the governments of the two countries had been contentious, in the 1990s the relationship improved dramatically. Elected in 1990 and governing through November 2000, President Alberto Fujimori sought to cooperate with the U.S. government on most components of the bilateral agenda, including security threats, free-market reform, and narcotics control. For the most part, however, President Fujimori’s government did not meet international standards for democracy and human rights, and on this component of the bilateral agenda the two governments clashed. Still, overall the bilateral relationship was more cooperative than it had been at any time since the 1950s.