By Anthony Faiola
                  Washington Post Foreign Service

                  LIMA, Peru, April 13—Angela Aramburu has never been a big fan of
                  Uncle Sam, believing Washington has meddled in Latin American affairs
                  too often. But that was before Wednesday night, when she was overjoyed
                  that U.S. and other international pressure had apparently played a key role
                  in leading President Alberto Fujimori to accept a runoff in Peru's
                  presidential election.

                  The 34-year-old social worker and a group of anti-Fujimori protesters
                  broke into thunderous applause when asked about Washington's role in the
                  showdown. "We are trying to defend democracy in Peru, but we can't do
                  it alone," Aramburu said, standing near a site in central Lima where
                  protesters had erected mock gravestones spray-painted with the initials of
                  the National Electoral Process Office.

                  Fujimori's rivals and international observers say that the office, which tallies
                  official returns, was being manipulated by the president's supporters to
                  secure him a first-round victory. But during three days of civil unrest as the
                  count dragged on, the United States rolled out a pressure campaign on
                  Fujimori's government that started with comments from Ambassador John
                  Hamilton here in Lima, moved on to warnings from the State Department
                  and the White House and culminated in a congressional resolution
                  threatening sanctions.

                  Amid the crescendo of criticism from abroad, the election office
                  announced Wednesday night that Fujimori had fallen 0.2 percentage points
                  short of the 50 percent vote total he needed to surpass for a first-ballot
                  victory. The finding forced Fujimori into a June runoff against Alejandro
                  Toledo, an opposition candidate who has accused Fujimori of a welter of
                  abuses during two five-year terms.

                  "Until tonight, I have been scared to even come out to the demonstrations,
                  scared the secret police might write down my name," Aramburu said,
                  looking down at the face of her young daughter. "But I feel more strength
                  now because we've got the United States and the foreign media behind us.
                  I never thought I'd say this, but we need [U.S.] help--now more than
                  ever."

                  Fujimori's bid for an unprecedented third term revived an extraordinarily
                  active role by the United States in Latin American affairs, including
                  unabashed intervention in a country's election of a kind rarely seen these
                  days. Given the sensitivity here over the long history of U.S. interventions,
                  Washington has sought recently to follow a less heavy-handed--or at least
                  less obvious--approach in Latin America.

                  Yet even as it emboldened people like Aramburu, the U.S. activism
                  angered Fujimori supporters, who make up a large portion of Peru's 24
                  million inhabitants. And it caused perhaps severe damage to U.S. relations
                  with the Fujimori government, which, because of Fujimori's commitment to
                  fighting drug trafficking, is considered one of the most strategically
                  important partners Washington has in Latin America.

                  After Toledo supporters alleged that Fujimori backers had tried to
                  sabotage the opposition in advance of Sunday's vote, the three days of
                  delay in announcing ballot tallies triggered the suspicions of U.S. and other
                  international observers. These were sharpened by computer failures and
                  the fact that official results, announced little by little, seemed to give
                  Fujimori more votes than indicated by five independent ballot samples,
                  including one conducted by the Organization of American States.

                  Even before half the ballots had been counted--and as Fujimori stood only
                  a fraction away from the majority he needed to avoid a runoff--the United
                  States told him it expected a second round regardless of the final tally.

                  "Our elections and our laws cannot and will not be dictated by [Secretary
                  of State Madeleine K.] Albright" and other Washington officials, said
                  Francisco Tudela, Fujimori's running mate and a former ambassador to the
                  United Nations. "I have never seen this level of U.S. interference in South
                  America before. They have tried to do it in Central America in the past,
                  but Peru is different. . . . My country is not a banana republic. . . . We
                  won't accept this kind of treatment."

                  The U.S. decision to intervene forcefully marked the latest chapter in a
                  struggle by Washington--and many Latin Americans themselves--to put
                  troubled young democracies in the region back on track at a time when
                  many seem to be slipping again toward instability and authoritarian rule.

                  Democracy has taken a firm hold in some Latin American nations once
                  subjected to military rule--particularly Argentina, Brazil and Chile. But
                  other nations, especially those in the key Andean region where the U.S.
                  anti-drug war is concentrated, face their greatest threats to stability in
                  decades.

                  Bolivia declared a state of emergency this week after a worker uprising.
                  Colombia faces powerful drug-producing and smuggling organizations and
                  a civil war with Marxist guerrillas. Ecuador remains in a severe and
                  uncertain political and economic crisis after a brief military coup in January.
                  Venezuela is going through a "democratic revolution" under President Hugo
                  Chavez, a firebrand with ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro.

                  "Stability and democracy, especially in the Andean region of South
                  America, is a significant concern of the United States, and that is why we
                  were expressing as strongly as we did our feelings in Peru," said a Clinton
                  administration official.

                  "But in my opinion, it's less that we're seeing the fall of democracy now and
                  more that perhaps we have overestimated the amount of progress that was
                  made since the beginning of the democratic transitions in the region. That is
                  why we now need to work hard to support democracy, and Peru marks
                  an important starting point."

                  Fujimori, who crushed two guerrilla movements and oversaw the 1997
                  rescue of hostages in the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, had
                  long been viewed as one of few stabilizing forces in the region. But at the
                  same time, he also has become a symbol of "democratic authoritarians"
                  sprouting up in Latin America, tapping into public discontent with the
                  corruption of traditional political parties to win support among the masses.

                  Although Fujimori has given Peru the greatest level of stability of any
                  Andean nation, strings were attached. Press freedoms have suffered, and
                  the judicial and legislative branches have been manipulated to concentrate
                  power in the president's hands. But for a large percentage of Peruvians
                  who still support Fujimori, the stability he has provided, along with food
                  aid and land handouts, have been enough to merit a vote.

                  Despite their actions this week, U.S. officials have indicated that they are
                  not necessarily opposed to Fujimori or in favor of Toledo, a onetime
                  shoeshine boy who is trying to become Peru's first Indian president. U.S.
                  pressures here, they say, were designed to ensure fair elections, and if
                  Fujimori does win, the vote will be viewed as legitimate.

                  "The fear is that an illegitimate win in Peru could have provoked massive
                  instability and unrest here that could spill out into the rest of the region,"
                  said Alberto Borea, a Lima-based political analyst. "Already, our
                  neighbors are in a very precarious state."

                  That legitimacy will be won or lost in the next several weeks as Toledo and
                  Fujimori again hit the campaign trail.