Film analysis of global development systems and their human impacts

Fall of Fujimori

The film Fall of Fujimori captures the modern dictatorship of President Alberto Fujimori in Peru. Fujimori comes to rise in 1990 when insurgents and poverty appears to be dominating Peru, and he represents the poor and the disenfranchised population. The support Fujimori gained from this faction of people helped him win the elections for the office of the Presidency. Though, after being sworn in as President, the President launches a "War on Terror" against the guerrilla organization called Shining Path, which he wins. Ten years after the beginning of his reign, Fujimori is accessed of "kidnapping, murder and corruption" and flees from Peru to Japan, "where was in exile for four years" (PBS, Documentaries with a Point-of-View, 2006). The documentary illuminates Fujimori in a rather personal light by interviewing him one-on-one, where it is noted that he was "nervous, gracious, diffident and anxious to tell his story" (PBS, Documentaries with a Point-of-View, 2006). Fujimori tells a story of how he helped eliminate terrorism and hyper-inflation, while also "[forging] a common bond with the Peru's poor" (PBS, Documentaries with a Point-of-View, 2006). Fujimori's demise came in the form of in-humane tactics, including murder by execution which eventually led him to have to flee the country. The documentary also weaves in the testimony of witnesses that had experienced his reign, along with materials that also help depict the story of what occurred during his reign. Fujimori's personal account along with the witness testimonials and archival materials converge together to provide a portrayal of the Latin-American dictator and his ten-year reign.

When watching this documentary closely, the article by Handelman and Griffiths resonated particularly well. The article asserts that "emerging-market countries account for 85% of the world's population but generate just 20% of global gross national product"; but, "by 2035...the combined economies of emerging markets will be larger than the economies of the United States, Western Europe or Japan" (Griffiths). Emerging economies are certainly a force to be reckoned with, not forgotten, undermined or taken advantage of. Emerging markets have "a conscious stealth strategy" that gradually introduces them to the global market while simultaneously building a name for themselves, including China's Haier which builds household appliances or Mexico's Corona beer (Griffiths). Though, the emerging of these markets into the global arena did not come easily and certain countries like China and Japan had to fight to have a presence on the market (Griffiths).

The relationship that the Handelman and Griffiths article has to the documentary is that they both emphasize the importance of globalization. One the main issues that Fujimori was battling during his reign was that inflation. In order to become a strong economy, inflation had to be kept at bay and people had to be able to purchase goods to stimulate the economy. Emerging markets, like Griffith asserted, did not come easy- often times, less developed countries had to fight for presence or to make a market niche in something. To that end, Fujimori was fuelled by globalization. In order to become a key player in globalization, the economy had to stabilize and then develop. Furthermore, another issue that needed to be solved in order for the nation to become an emerging market as Giffiths and Handelman describe- is to resolve the internal strife with guerrilla groups. When Fujimori attempted to keep these groups at bay, it was in the name of stabilizing Peru. The strife and clash amongst the guerrilla groups and the Peruvian people were hindering, rather than helping the development of the third world country. Without the elimination of these internal issues, inflation and the guerrilla groups, Peru would have never been able to fully develop.