But they have lost credibility with the public and their junior officers, and have little scope for resisting the new government, argues Diego Garcia Sayan, an adviser to Alejandro Toledo, Mr Fujimori's chief opponent in this year's election.
As well as Alejandro Toledo, defeated by now-disgraced Alberto Fujimori in a rigged vote last year, they included Alan Garcia, a former president whose rule from 1985 to 1990 was marked by disastrous populism.