Valentin Paniagua, 2000 News

president of Peru, resigned via a two-page fax to Congress, ending a turbulent 10-year presidency. He sent the letter from Japan, his parents' homeland, where he plans to stay indefinitely. Congress rejected the resignation and instead fired him. The move followed a tumultuous two-month period that began in September, after the broadcast of Fujimori's chief spy, Vladimiro Montesinos, evidently bribing an opposition congressman to switch parties. Fujimori then announced he would call new elections and not participate in them. Congress President Valentin Paniagua, a moderate opposition leader, was sworn in as president in November.