Alberto Fujimori surprising upset. He capitalized on profound disenchantment with outgoing president Alan García and the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance party (APRA). He exploited popular distrust of Vargas Llosa's identification with the existing Peruvian political establishment, and uncertainty about his plans for neoliberal economic reforms. During the campaign, Fujimori was nicknamed "El Chino", which roughly translates to "Chinaman"; it is common for people of any East Asian descent to be called "chino" in Peru, as elsewhere in Latin America, both derogatively and affectionately. Although he is of Japanese heritage, Fujimori has suggested that he was always gladdened by the term, which he
Alberto Fujimori perceived as a term of affection. With his election victory, he became just the second person of East Asian descent to become head of government of a Latin American nation, after Fulgencio Batista of Cuba and the third of East Asian descent to govern a South American state, after Arthur Chung of Guyana and Henk Chin A Sen of Suriname (each of whom had served as head of state, rather than head of government). During his first term in office, Fujimori enacted wide-ranging neoliberal reforms, known as Fujishock. During the presidency of Alan García, the economy had entered a period