Peru town rues taking name of former president's wife

By Terry Wade

SATOMI KATAOKA, Peru (Reuters Life!) - When a group of poor Peruvians named their desert town after Satomi Kataoka, the Japanese hotel magnate married to former President Alberto Fujimori, they thought it would bring good luck.

But now they are in a jam. They think Kataoka, who lives in Japan and is nearly 20 years younger than 70-year-old Fujimori wants to divorce him -- and it's too late to change the name of their patch of sand.

"The name is in the public registry, in all of our land titles. We can't change it now," said Leonidas Yupanqui, 38, a painter. "She's never given us a gift or paid us a visit. Now it looks like they are going to divorce."

The town on the windy dunes 34 miles south of Lima has no sewage system or paved roads, and most houses are little more than makeshift huts with dirt floors.

Kataoka has not visited Fujimori since Chile extradited him to Peru last year to stand trial for human rights and corruption charges stemming from his 1990-2000 rule.

This month, she appeared to confirm suspicions in Peru that the marriage was political, telling media in Japan: "My relationship with Fujimori is like that of a father and daughter ... The marriage was done to help him."

Fujimori's critics say he married Kataoka for her political connections. They wed in 2006 in an exchange of vows by mail while he was under house arrest in Chile, just as Japanese politicians moved to block Peru's effort to extradite him.

Fujimori -- who has dual Japanese-Peruvian nationality -- fled to Japan in 2000 when his government collapsed. He went to Chile in 2005, seemingly to prepare a political comeback in Peru. He is now on trial for human rights charges.

His supporters tried to downplay Kataoka's comments.

Fujimori's daughter, Keiko, from his first marriage to Susana Higuchi, said Kataoka's comments might have been poorly translated, but added: "Satomi Kataoka was there for my father during his toughest times, not now, but when he was in Japan."

Residents say they are not supporters of Fujimori, even though the town's birthday is on July 28 -- which happens to be Peruvian independence day and the day he was born.

The nicest buildings, including a new cockfighting ring, are also painted white with touches of orange, the color of Fujimori's party. But residents say it is all coincidental.

"People think we chose our name to get benefits from Fujimori's party, but it's not true. We'll accept help from any politician," said Yupanqui.

(Editing by Dana Ford and Belinda Goldsmith)