Peru's MRTA: Tupac Amarú Revolutionary Movement [1 ed.] 0823938247, 9780823938247

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Tupac Amarii Revolutionary Movement f

ral

Suzie Baer

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY Copley Square Boston,

MA 02116

1

1

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2014

https://archive.org/details/perusnnrtaOOsuzi

Inside the World's

Most Infamous Terrorist Organizations

Peru's

MRTAl

Tupac Amarti Revolutionary 7

.

Movement

Suzie Baer

The Rosen Publishing Group,

New York

Inc.

— For Tom and Stefan for

their love

and support

Published in 2003 by The Rosen Publishing Group,

29 East 21st Street, Copyright

New

York,

NY

Inc.

10010

© 2003 by The Rosen Publishing Group,

hic.

First Edition

All rights reserved.

book may be reproduced in any form writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

No part of

without permission in

this

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baer, Suzie.

MRTA

Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement / Suzie Baer. (Inside the world's most infamous terrorist organizations) p. cm. Summary: Discusses the origins, philosophy, and most notorious attacks of the Tupac Amaru terrorist group, including their present activities, possible plans, and counter-terrorism efforts directed Peru's

:

—

against them. hicludes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8239-3824-7 Terrorism — Peru—History—20th Violence—Peru—History—20th Berenson, Foreign— Tupac Amaru Revolutionaiy Movement. Terrorism — Berenson, Peru—Histoiy— 19801.

Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac century.

century.

Amaru

History.

3.

Lori. 5. Prisoners,

4.

2.

Lori. 4. Political prisoners. 5. I.

Title.

II.

2.

Peru.

[1.

Peru.

3.

.]

Series.

HV6433.P42M6817 2002 985.06'4— dc21 2002010600

Manufactured

in the

United States of America

Contents 4

Introduction

MRTA

CHAPTER

1

CHAPTER

2 Early Strikes and

The

Birth of the

8

Major Setbacks

18

CHAPTER

3 Uninvited Guests

26

CHAPTER

4 Lori Berenson

35

Conclusion

48

Glossary

53

For More Information

55

For Further Reading

58

Bibliography

59

Index

61

Introduction

The

Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement

(in

Spanish,

MRTA)

Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru, or

was formed

in

1983 by university student radicals

Nestor Cerpa, Victor Polay, and Miguel Rincon to fight corruption in the

Peruvian government. The name of the movement

came from

a

famous Incan warrior, Tupac

x-\maru,

who.

had conquered the

1570s, fought against the Spaniards w^ho

Inca Empire.

Tupac Amaru was defeated

in this

executed. His

name

in the 1780s,

and

lived on, however,

war and was another

native hidian group fighting against oppressive leaders

themselves Tupac its

Amaru

II.

in the

named

This group was also defeated, and

leaders were executed.

The

MRTA

stated goal of the

was

government and create a new society treated equally enjoyed the perity,

wanted

to

and

start their

reform the Peruvian

which

all

the people were

same opportunities and

and shared ownership

schools, companies,

in

to

of

all

property (including land, Cerpa. Polay, and Rincon

factories).

own

level of pros-

political party,

one that was not

dependent on money from the outside world, specifically the United States.

When money

is

lent

from one government

to

another, the donor country often puts restrictions on the govern-

ment

that accepts the loan, forcing

it

to

adopt certain economic

Mf?TA_

an undated photo of Nestor Cerpa, one of the three founding members of the MRTA and its miUtary commander. UnHke other MRTA leaders who came from the middle class, Cerpa (also known as Commandante Evaristo) was from a working-class family and was active in the Peruvian labor movement of the 1970s. As a young trade union official in 1978, Cerpa and his fellow workers took control of a bankrupt textile factory near Lima after its owners tried to close it down. Four people died in the conflict, and Cerpa served a year in prison. This

is

5

Miguel Rincon (center), the MRTA's second-in-command,

is

escorted

by police following his capture on December 1, 1995, after an armed standoff in a wealthy neighborhood of Lima. As he wa^ led away, Rincon shouted, "My capture is a blow to the MRTA, but the MRTA does not depend on one or two persons."

The

MRTA felt that these restrictions were

and

political policies.

put

in place to benefit foreign countries

Peruvians, but not the poor. of

its

government

people fairly and

and

The

and wealthy,

influential

MRTA did not trust the motives

wanted

to

serve

the

Peruvian

justly.

6

I

— Introduction Like

its

namesakes, the

ered to be an oppressive

MRTA was at war with what

—

power

it

consid-

the Peruvian government.

MRTA

members decided that the best way to fight this war was to attack with nonlethal force

—people and

organizations that had power and

money. They fek that only by targeting the poweiiiil could they get the government's

—and

the world's

—

attention

and expose the

Peruvian government's corruption and human-rights violations for all to see.

president,

stealing

Members

were long suspected of bribing judges and

politicians,

money from the government ti'easury for personal

ficking drugs cal

of the Peruvian government, including the

and weapons, and

misti'eating

use,

and murdering

ti'af-

politi-

opponents and prisoners. This misuse of government funds and

suppression of democracy helped to insure that wealthy citizens

would only get

wealthier, while the vast majority of

poor Peruvians

would not get the help that they desperately needed.

The element organizations violence.

The

that set the

was

its

group's

MRTA apart from most other terrorist

commitment

members

even members of

the social

Throughout most of

its history,

whenever

to the

felt

that the

and the

avoidance of unnecessary

harming

political

—was

elite

wrong.

MRTA sought to avoid violence

possible. However, this respect for

save the group fi*om a violent end.

of civilians

human

life

would not

The Birth the

of

MRTA

1533, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro conquered

Inthe

name

hicas and took control of Peru in the

of

the

Spanish Empire. The coastal city of Lima, founded by

became Peru's

Pizarro in 1535,

capital,

and the country turned

out to be an important and prestigious acquisition for Spain. Eventually, Peruvian colonists wanted to gain independence

from Spain, which had no interest

in losing a valuable colony.

After several hundred years of fighting, Peru

won

independ-

its

ence on July 28, 1821.

Independence, however, did not bring democracy and freedom for

all.

Since overthrowing Spanish rule, the Peruvian govern-

ment has repeatedly swung back and ment (run by

forth between civil govern-

civilian representatives of the country's citizens)

and military dictatorship (run by one member forces

who has

had been drawn up, and presidency

Unfortunately, to fix the

armed

absolute authority). Peru's most recent military

dictatorship ruled from 1968 to 1980.

the

the

of

it

in

in 1980,

Peru's

By

1979, a

new

constitution

Fernando Belaunde Terry won

first

fully

would take more than a

democratic

freely elected president

economic problems that Peru was

now

facing after

years of government instability and mismanagement.

8

election.

The Birth

Armed

Opposition many

Civilian rule failed to solve Peru's

many

ment's response to terrorism led to

and freedoms.

ties

MRTA

of the

The govern-

problems.

restrictions

on

civil liber-

In addition, corruption continued to flourish in

and

the executive, legislative,

judicial

branches of government.

Most important, poverty was as crushing as

response to

ever, hi

years of suffering under corrupt governments and a repressive military,

two

rebel

groups formed with the purpose of defeating the

They remain

ruling government in order to create a better society. active today

and continue

One group was the Peruvian

was not on

to inflict terror

called the Shining

Communist

their side

citizens.

Path and was an offshoot of

members

Party. Its

was

on the nation's

felt

that

actively fighting against

anyone who

them and was

Members

of the

Shining Path have killed thousands of people over the years,

many

therefore

of

an appropriate

target for a violent attack.

whom were innocent civilians. The

other group

Movement, or

was

called the

Tupac

MRTA. The MRTA was

Polay, Nestor Cerpa,

Amam

founded

in

Revolutionary

1983 by Victor

and Miguel Rincon. These men had grown up

in

a repressive society that was dominated by the military. They wanted to create a political party that

and

would help Peru become a

fairer place to live. Originally, they

better, freer,

had been members of the

American Popular Revolutionaiy Alliance (APRA). They soon however, that this political party

toward

its

they

felt

was not working hard enough

goal of helping the poor and disenfi"anchised (those

are excluded from wealth, power, that the

were better

APRA party

off in order to

gain

felt,

and the

who

political process). Instead,

was focusing on helping people who theii"

9

financial support

and

votes.

4 •

A mother and two of Monzon

Valley.

her children clear weeds from a plot of coca in Peru's

Peru

is

the

\\x)rld's

largest single source of coca leaves,

pro\-iding about two-thirds of the total cocaine cultivation

used coca groups in

an

was practiced by the ancient Andean Inca Empire. The Incas for religious

like the

effort to

MRTA

and medicinal purposes. In recent times, terrorist and Shining Path have used peasants to farm coca

fund their guerrilla

Polay, Cerpa,

wanted

produced in the world. Coca

acti\ities.

and Rincon formed the

to get the attention of the

them how corrupt

their

MRTA was going to

do

government was,, and to

to explain

change things. Young

what the

MRTA members

equalit>^ for millions of

many young Peruvians

10

because they

Peruvian people, to reveal to

were told that they would be fighting for Peruvians. Inspired,

MRTA

eagerly joined up.

The Birth

of the

MRTA

Taking from the Rich and Giving to the Poor In 1980, about half of the population of

Millions of people lived in

bathi-ooms, or

enough

not earn them enough

make a

homes without

The crops

food.

Peru lived

electiicity,

in poverty.

running water,

grew and

that they

sold did

money to live on. The one crop that they could

substantial profit on, coca,

plant h'om which cocaine

is illegal to

produced.

is

grow because

Though very

it is

profitable,

also a very risky crop. Coca fields are routinely destroyed

the it is

by

Peruvian and U.S. antinarcotic government agents.

The

MRTA wanted to combat both the extreme poverty outside

Peru's cities first

and the corrupt government

in

Lima.

One of

the group's

waves of attacks involved hijacking trucks that were delivering

food to supermarkets in Lima.

amount

of ammunition,

trucks and handed

it

Armed

MRTA

it

was

recruiting people to

A Ray of

members

stole the food off

also a

this allow the

MRTA to feed a few

good way of creating good

there

was a

and

Hope Extinguished

of the

Victor Polay,

will

become members of the group.

In 1985, another democratic election took place,

member

the

out to the poor people in the area, like modern-

day Robin Hoods. Not only did

hungry people,

with a few guns and a small

APRA

became

and Alan Garcia, a

and a childhood fiiend of

MRTA

founder

president. For the first time in Peru's history,

peaceful exchange of power from one democratically

elected president to another.

Peru seemed to be heading down a new

road into a far brighter future.

Because President because the

MRTA

Gai'cia

had been a

friend of Victor Polay 's

sought to work within the

11

political

and

system, the

Alan Garcia was elected president of Peru in 1985, riding a wave of optimism that greater social equality and good government would finally

become

however, he

a reality throughout the country. Five jyears later,

left office in

disgrace amid economic chaos, guerrilla and

drug-related violence, and corruption charges.

group put out a statement saying

it

would

halt all attacks

and give

President Gairia the opportunity to run the government for the benefit

of the poor.

The

MRTAs

goal

was

not the destruction of social

order and government institutions, but instead the creation of a broad populai" possible.

movement

to

make

They sought a

the ti'ansition to a new, socialist society

so-called quiet revolution, not a bloody one.

12

-~

The Birth

of the

MRTA

Unfortunately, President Garcia's attempts to rebuild Peru only created greater poverty.

By the end of

his term, the

economy

orated further and President Garcia's administration

be corrupt. The

resume

its

to

attacks.

In late 1987, the

Terrorism

MRTA

took over the city of Juanjui (population:

by overpowering and locking up

the officials were behind bars, the in

was found

MRTA lost faith in his leadership and felt obliged to

A New Kind of 20,000)

deteri-

its

entire police force.

Once

MRTA organized a town meeting

which the people were offered a rare opportunity

about their needs and those of their

city.

to

speak out

After the meeting, the

MRTA organized a soccer game and thi^ew a big party. Not wanting to miss an opportunity for good press, MRTA members invited a television

news a'ew to

cast the footage nationwide.

Juanjui and to

They

show them and

film the party

and

later

broad-

did this to help the people of

the rest of the country the kind of

good things the group wanted

to

people were thankful for this

new kind

do

for all Peruvians.

Though some

of "terrorism,"

it

was not

appreciated by the Peruvian government. President Garcia issued a state of

emergency

quickly followed.

Moving

in the Juanjui region,

As a result, many

and a military

offensive

MRTA members were killed.

to the City

In the mid-1980s, the

MRTA and

the Shining Path both

strike targets in the city of Lima. Until this time,

most

began

to

terrorist

violence took place in the countryside, not in the cities where the

wealthy people

lived.

As the terrorists began to venture out of

the

Peru's and

hills

MRTA

into residential areas, Lima's

wealthy residents were

suddenly being threatened. They wanted immediate action from their leaders.

The U.S. Embassy the

MRTA

was

felt

Lima represented power and money, which

in

an

at the root of Peru's problems. In

effort to

protest against U.S. imperialism (the belief that the United States

exerts economic tried to

political control

over other nations), the

filled

MRTA guerrillas

with

drove past the U.S.

automatic weapons at the building. Another

stopped

MRTA

launch an attack against the embassy. In November 1985,

two cars firing

and

in front of the

embassy and a

Embassy

MRTA

guerrilla tossed

two

vehicle

sticks of

dynamite at the outer gate. None of the weapons actually struck the inside of the embassy,

building's exterior. assault, the ity for the

and the

and only minor damage was done

No one was harmed

in the attack.

to the

After the

MRTA got on a local radio station to claim responsibil-

attack

and

to

U.S.

money

bought that was doing harm

to the

spread the message that

political influence

it

it

was

Peruvian people.

A New President In 1990, a relatively

won

Gets Tough on Terrorism

unknown

professor

named Alberto Fujimori

the presidential election based on his tough stance against

terrorism and with the help of his closest adviser, Vladimiro

Montesinos. Fujimori had the support of the U.S. government

and assured the people safe again.

He promised

of to

Lima go

that he

would make

their

to great lengths to rid the

homes

Peruvian

capital of terrorism. It

was very

difficult,

however, for President Fujimori to put a

quick halt to the terrorist activities that had been going on for

14

The Birth

of the

MRTA

Attacking the United States The

MRTA has launched more anti-U.S. attacks than any other

terrorist organization in Latin

•

•

A A

America.

Some

of these include:

1984 small arms attack on the U.S. Embassy in Lima 1985 bombing of the Lima offices of the Texaco Corporation

•

An attempted

•

A

•

Repeated attacks using rockets, mortars, and car bombs on the

1985 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Lima

1987 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Lima

U.S.

ambassador's residence

ten years.

The

MRTA and the Shining Path had many members

who could survive in the jungle and fight a long guerrilla war. Many politicians had widely differing views on how to solve the problems that Peru was facing, and many of these opinions contradicted those of

Fujimori. So,

Fujimori chose to bypass Peru's

in

April

1992,

President

new democratic system and

instead dissolved the Congress, fired the judges

who

disagreed

with him, and wrote a new constitution. Fujimori

now

ruled the country as a dictator and created

antiterrorism laws

and an

antiterrorist police force

DINCOTE to speed the arrest of

known

alleged terrorists. These

new

as the

new laws

would not have been accepted by the Peruvian Congress because they denied people their basic

civil rights.

International

human-

rights groups say that these laws were designed to convict as

many

people as possible with very

little

they received very long prison sentences.

15

evidence and to ensure

President Alberto Fujimori

iiiienor Minister General Cesar

(center),

and Police Chief General Fernando Dianderas of Peru make the sign of the cross during a ceremony in a police station in Callao, Peru. A former agricultural economist, dean of the faculty of sciences at the Agrarian National University in La Molina, Peru, and talk-show host, Fujimori created a populist, grassroots political party called Cambio 90, which capitalized on popular anger and disappointment with Alan Garcia's administration. In the 1990 elections, Fujimori beat Garcia and famous author Mario Vargas Llosa to gain the presidency of Peru. Saucedo

One

(left),

of the

new laws

President Fujimori created

Repentance Law, which states that of a terrorist

group and turn

if

you admit

in other

members

truth of your accusation), you will be given

The

idea

was

to

have terrorists turn

16

to

more

was

called the

being a

member

(regardless of the lenient treatment.

in other terrorists in

exchange

The Birth

of the

MRTA

Government Terrorism A

little

was an

more than a year

after President Fujimori's election, there

Lima known

attack on a neighborhood party in the area of

as Barrios Altos. At 10:30 PM, two four-wheel-drive vans pulled up to the party

and men carrying automatic weapons with

jumped

They ordered everyone

out.

to

lie

down on

silencers

the floor

and

then started shooting. Fifteen people, including a nine-year-old boy,

were

killed.

Although blamed on antigovernment

terrorists at the

time, human-rights groups have long believed that the Barrios

Altos massacre, as terrorist

it is

commonly known, was not committed by a

group but instead by La Colina, a division of Peru's

National Intelligence Service (SIN), present at the block party. Today, that

La Colina was responsible

who

it is

thought terrorists were

generally accepted as fact

for the massacre.

for lighter sentences. Unfortunately, the people

were often unjustly accused and Frequently, an accused terrorist

wanted

who were turned

tell

the police

what they

to hear, regardless of the truth, in order to receive leniency

(better treatment

and a shorter

sentence). Fujimori

admit that there were hundreds of innocent people result of the to

any crime.

entirely innocent of

would

in

would

in prison

later

as a

Repentance Law. In essence, Fujimori was attempting

sweep away

With very

all

opposition, regardless of the cost.

little

remaining opposition, Fujimori gave the

tary emergency powers to launch an all-out

Shining Path and the

say there was a sharp

MRTA. As

17

war against the

a result, human-rights groups

rise in violations

special forces.

mili-

by the Peruvian

military's

Early Strikes and Major Setbacks 1992, despite

government claims

Inand attempts by

to ease Peruvians' suffering

and the

the Shining Path

MRTA

to bring

about a more equal distribution of wealth, almost half of the population of Peru

still

lived

below the poverty

line.

Meanwhile, the government of Peru, the Shining Path, and the

MRTA

were fighting and

killing

one another

in their

competing

attempts to gain control of the country. According to the Washington Post, 35,000 people

were

killed

from 1980

terrorism (the Peruvian government)

to

1990 by state-sponsored

and guerrilla terrorism (Shining

Path and MRTA). Amnesty International attibutes 53 percent of the killing to the

Peruvian government, 46 percent of the killing to the

Shining Path, and

1

percent to the

MRTA.

estimated that the

It is

MRTA killed approximately 200 people from 1983 to the mid-1990s. The MRTA was always more interested in getting publicity than in killing people to achieve its goals.

Attacking U.S. Interests By

the mid-1980s, the

strikes, often against

MRTA was well

known

for its high-profile

wealthy businesspeople and U.S. property.

The group was also known to fight back against the police and military,

The

MRTA

the

though not always successfully. U.S.

filled

Embassy was

a favorite target. In April 1986, the

a car with dynamite

and parked

it

in front of the

Early Strikes and Major Setbacks embassy.

When

wall that

was

the

the car exploded,

it

blew a hole

bomb exploded

day, a

in the concrete

No one was hurt, but was clear. On that very

built to protect the embassy.

MRTA's anti-American statement

same

at a

Kentucky Fried Chicken restau-

MRTA

rant in Lima, injuring twelve people.

The

pamphlets

know who was

at the restaurant to let people

sible for the

On

—

bomb and what

October

1987, the

8,

the

group stood

MRTA

planted

scattered

respon-

for.

bombs

at the U.S.

Consulate and the Bolivian Embassy. Group members said that

meant

the attacks were

to

commemorate

the twentieth anniver-

sary of the death of the Latin American revolutionary leader

Che Guevara, a major inspiration

to the

MRTA. Once

again, no

one was physically injured at the U.S. Consulate or at the Bolivian Embassy.

The warn

MRTA

that a

Typically,

would often

bomb had been

MRTA

resulted in few,

attacks that

if

any, injuries.

was so potent

Tactic:

In order to have

cause, the

MRTA

ahead of time

to

placed and urge an evacuation.

attacks were

American property and

A New

call its targets

full It

—the

of

was

sound and the

fury,

symbolism

destruction of

but

of the

vulnerable

interests.

Kidnapping

any hope of inspiring Peruvians

to join its

needed both publicity and money. With

its

attacks against American interests, the group received plenty of attention from the press,

message out to acquire.

which helped

to the public.

Money was

to get its

a

much

anti-American

harder resource

Future terrorist operations had to be funded with

the help of

other criminal activities, such as kidnapping.

MRTA

Peru's

MRTA

The

was

able to raise

who worked

business executives

By

tions.

The

feel safe

walk-

executive from Coca-Cola

was abducted

The ransoms were

relatively

for large, wealthy corpora-

way home from work.

maceutical executive car.

An

Lima.

ing the streets of his

the kidnapping of

most businesspeople did not

early 1990,

kidnapped on

money through

collected,

was

A few days later, a phar-

right out of his bulletproof

and both men were returned

unharmed.

MRTA

project that

Peruvians.

continued to state that

was based on

Its

the

it

did not support any

random

innocent

of

killing

members' actions throughout the 1990s, however,

would not always support these claims.

On September

MRTA kidnapped mining executive Once he was in MRTA custody, MRTA

11, 1992, the

David Ballon Vera

in

members contacted

Lima.

his family

and demanded a ransom. Even

though the family paid the ransom, he was not returned. In February 1993,

more than

five

months

after

he had been kidnapped, Ballon's

body was found with two bullet wounds

in the head.

It

appeared that

he had also been starved.

The murder and

is

obey

of

David Ballon Vera violated

MRTA

thought to have been carried out by members

their leaders.

a turning point

It is

regarded

—a new embrace

a regrettable low point in

MRTA

among

MRTA

of violence

principles

who

did not

members

and murder

not as

—but as

history.

Another Source of Income In addition to kidnapping, the

build an arsenal of

MRTA was able to raise money and

weapons by protecting coca farmers from the

Early Strikes and Major Setbacks The

authorities. fields,

fickers

MRTA

would act as a security force

in the

coca

and the

traf-

protecting the peasants

who grew

who bought and

In exchange, they received

sold

and weapons from the similar deal with the

A Movement

it.

traffickers.

drug

the coca

money

The Shining Path struck

a

lords.

Weakened by Arrests

With President Fujimori's new

antiterrorist

laws and antiterrorist

police force in place, thousands of people were being arrested.

Among them

MRTA

were

MRTA leaders and members.

cofounder, Victor Polay,

Fujimori came into

office)

Canto Grande Prison

MRTA

in

1990, they

arrested in 1989 (before

and was sentenced

Lima. While

members dug a

was

to

in prison,

life

in prison at the

he and several other

tunnel thi'ough which to escape.

By

July

had successfully completed digging a 275-foot-long pas-

sageway, beginning inside the prison and ending just outside walls. Before

other

MRTA

dawn one July morning, members

what had happened,

escaped.

the police

its

Victor Polay and at least fifty

Once the prison

officials realized

began a house-to-house search

for the

fugitives thi'oughout Lima, eventually detaining over 20,000 people.

In 1992, Victor Polay

was found and

arrested again, this time

during Fujimori's antiterrorist regime and was sent to a prison at the El Callao Naval Base. At El Callao, he would spend the

years of his

life

MRTA

the mid-1990s, the

members were

goals of those

eight

sentence in a dark six-foot-square concrete box, fi"om

which he was allowed out only one hour each

By

first

still

MRTA

was

day.

essentially defeated.

either in prison or dead.

free changed.

The

Most

practical

Rather than waging war against

21

MRTA members

stand and huddle in their prison cells within one of By the mid-1990s,

Peru's notorious prisons for convicted terrorists.

most MRTA members were either government antiterrorist forces.

in prison or

22

had been killed by

— Early Strikes and Major Setbacks government corruption and American imperialism,

was now random

far narrower.

arrest

MRTA

and imprisonment

in calling attention to the

nation's jails, they

imprisoned

members were now

hoped

their focus

fighting the

of innocent people. In addition,

human-rights abuses occurring

in the

improve prison conditions and free

to

MRTA members.

A New Constitution Seeking a new and stronger weapon with which to attack rorists. President

ter-

Fujimori rewrote the Peruvian constitution in

April 1992, allowing him to combat terrorism without having to

go through the proper checks and balances that ensure that innocent people are not convicted. These constitutional changes

allowed suspects to be rounded up, held indefinitely, charged,

and convicted based upon very

little

evidence (sometimes just

upon an accusation made by another suspect trying lenience). President Fujimori felt it

was worth

jailing

—and

many Peruvian

to

earn

citizens

some innocent people as long as

the ter-

rorists got convicted as well.

In addition to the Repentance Law, Fujimori also created a judicial

system for

terrorists as well as

designed specifically for convicted

new

new

prison regulations

terrorists. In these

new

courts,

the judge wore a hood to protect his or her identity for fear of reprisals

from

practice led

and

if

terrorist

some

groups when members were convicted. This

to question

who was

actually under those hoods,

he or she was really qualified to conduct such a

Lawyers were allowed period, giving

to

them very

meet with little

trial.

their clients only for a limited

time to prepare an informed defense.

23

Peru's

MRTA 1

I

The MRTA's Good Works MRTA was not only involved with bombings, kidnappings, and

The

drug

lords,

but with other, more positive aspects of Peruvian

well.

When

workers and peasants went on strike they could usually

count on support from the

MRTA. The MRTA

deteriorating human-rights situation in the called

San Martin. In

this area, there

was a

as

also publicized the

Andean area

lot of

life

violence

of Peru

and many

by the Shining Path, the Peruvian military, and the DENCOTE

killings

(antiterrorist police force), as well as the antinarcotic police force.

According is

to

human-rights groups, the Peruvian prison system

designed to slowly

kill

convicted terrorists.

No terrorist prisoners

are allowed visitors during the first year of their imprisonments.

They

are often allowed out of their cells for only half an hour per

day and are fed a poor

diet of

mostly starch and water. Each

cell

contains two prisoners and one hole in the ground to be used as a All visits take place with a plastic

toilet.

fence between inmate

and

visitor.

located at a very high altitude

perature cells.

is

The

cold.

None

Some of

where the

or

meshed metal

the terrorist prisons are air is thin

and the tem-

of the terrorist prisons provide heat to the

conditions of several Peruvian prisons do not meet the

basic requirements of

Peru has been asked

By

window

1996,

all

international human-rights groups,

to close them.

of the founders of the

and hundreds of

its

of being a terrorist

and

members were was

MRTA (except Nestor Cerpa)

in prison.

Everyone convicted

sent to the jails set aside specifically for

24

—

Colonel Jorge Sarmiento of the Peruvian national police holds a copy of the

MRTA's underground newspaper during a 1997 press conference.

Both rebels and government counterterroinst forces attempt to win the hearts and minds of Peruvians through propaganda ideas, facts, or claims deliberately spread to further one's own cause or damage the cause of an opponent.

—

radical political prisoners.

Those who were convicted

founder of a terrorist group

—such as

the

MRTA's

of being a

Victor Polay

and Miguel Rincon, and Abimael Guzman of the Shining Path were put

in solitary confinement.

25

Uninvited Guests

On

the evening of

December

of Lima, the Japanese

elite

wealthy suburb

ambassador was holding a party

Japans emperor. All of

celebrate the birthday of

to

Lima's

17, 1996, in a

attended the event, including judges from Peru's

Supreme Court,

retired

members

of Peru's military

and

police,

business executives, and diplomats from around the world, including the United States. Fujimori,

was

Not long party, the

Even

the president's brother, Pedro

present.

after the

American ambassador, Dennis

few remaining unimprisoned

Jett, left

the

MRTA members pulled off

a surprise attack that would finally get the whole world's attention.

This stunning success would come at a steep

The MRTA's biggest

attack would also be

price,

however.

its last.

Hostages for Prisoners With the help of some

members disguised as

strategically placed

waiters, fourteen

the residence of Japan's ambassador.

dynamite and several

MRTA

They immediately took

more than 700 guests hostage and announced the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori,

have been

in

demands

to

who was supposed

to

their

attendance at the party that night.

President Fujimori's flight to

rebels stormed

A

rain delay in

Lima spared him from becoming a

hostage himself.

26

The Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, rooftop on January 7, 1997, during the

teen rebels

initially

MRTA

is

seen from a nearby

hostage taking.

The

four-

took 700 of the ambassador's guests hostage during a

party commemorating the Japanese emperor's birthday, but within houi^s

began releasing many of the female, ill, and elderly captives. Seventy-foiuhostages would remain in the residence throughout the four-month ordeal. The MRTA's flag can be seen flying from the roof of the residence, hi exchange for the release of the hostages, the rebels demanded the release of jailed

MRTA members and better living conditions for the nation's poor.

The captors' primary demand was the release of 400 imprisoned

MRTA members who were being held in the inhumane conditions of several Peruvian terrorist prisons.

MRTA Most

leader Nestor Cerpa,

of

the imprisoned

was

MRTA

Nancy

in the

Gilvonio, the wife of

Yanamayo

members had

27

terrorist prison.

received lengthy

%J

'f

During the hostage crisis in the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, MRTA members regularly hung banners from the roof of the building in an attempt to

make

their case directly to the public in

—

Peru and worldwide. The banner on the left reads, "MRTA Mothers, wives, and children of our prisoners also wait for their freedom. Peace for all Pei-uvians." The second banner reads, "MRTA Peru of today, 13 million in extreme poverty. Where is the progress?"

—

k5PQ5R5EH\70fi

MRTA

Peru's sentences is

—from

thirty years to

life

in prison.

A life sentence in Peru

exactly that, imprisonment for the rest of the prisoner's

no opportunity for parole or early

The

MRTA

fourteen

wanted to receive safe passage with the freed prisoners

rebels also either the

release.

with

life

Dominican Republic or

overriding goal

was

to

to

Cuba. Their

politically like-minded

expose the conditions of Peruvian

terrorist

prisons to the rest of the world.

The Long Wait Within hours of hostages.

They

of diplomats politicians.

the takeover,

freed the

MRTA

the

women, most

of

began releasing

whom

were the wives

and businessmen, though some were journalists and

Among the women released were President Fujimori's

mother and

sister.

rebels divided

They

ill.

The

different groups.

The

also freed the elderly

up the hostages

into

two

and the

people they considered innocent were put on the the people

second

whom

floor.

and

first floor,

they considered their enemies were held on the

Most

of the people put

on the second

floor

were

associated with the Peruvian military or government.

During the next four months, the leader of the takeover, Nestor

The

rebels slept

their hostages

and placed

residence, in doorways,

and around

the grounds to prevent the hostages from escaping or

government

Cerpa, negotiated with the Peruvian government. in shifts in order to

keep an eye on

booby traps throughout the

troops from invading.

They accepted

the help of the

which brought box lunches for the hostages and the

Red

Cross,

rebels,

who

occasionally ate together.

The hostages passed talking to each other.

It

the time playing card games, writing,

and

did not take long, though, for a sense of

30

I

Uninvited Guests

—

I

High Ideals and a Holiday Gesture In late December, a

released

week

after the

embassy

more hostages as a Christmas

takeover, the

gesture.

The media

viewed some of these newly released hostages. One the time

by the New York Times said

MRTA inter-

man quoted at

that their captors were

"obviously professionals in what they do and believe in what they

do deeply."

A released Canadian businessman

told the

New

York

limes he spoke with his captor and got the impression that one

MRTA's] principal preoccupations

of their [the

poverty of the country." This would be the

would

release a large

number of

last

is

the extreme

time the

MRTA

hostages. Over the following long

weeks, a few more were released for health reasons. Seventy-two hostages would remain for the duration of the embassy takeover.

disappointment and despair to set

in as they realized that the

negotiations were going to take a long time.

how

No one

could imagine

long, however.

Just

when

it

seemed as though negotiations were moving

for-

ward, the Peruvian government chose to end the hostage situation

through violent rather than diplomatic means. Looking back, unclear

if

the

On

MRTA.

Conclusion

April 22, 1997, 126 days after the

residence, 150

began

is

government ever intended any outcome other than

the complete elimination of the

A Bloody

it

members

rebels took over the

of the Peruvian military's special forces

their rescue mission.

their daily indoor soccer

MRTA

At

3:30 PM, while the rebels played

game, a bomb exploded

31

just

below

their

A Peruvian soldier peers out of

a hole on the grounds of the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru. On April 22, 1997, soldiers stormed the residence using timnels to gain entry in a successful attempt to surprise MRTA rebels and end the four-monthold hostage crisis. Inset: Peruvian police officers

a fallen

MRTA

rebel

lift

the dead body of

from the roof of the ambassador's residence.

Peru's feet.

The

military

MRTA

had dug a tunnel under the

residence, having

been told by one of the released hostages exactly where the captors played soccer every day.

by the playing

The sound

of digging

extremely loud music, which the terrorists

of

assumed was the government's attempt

Many blast.

at psychological warfare.

of the rebel players were killed immediately

Moments

later,

front door, blowing

on the

had been masked

roof.

by the

another explosion occurred at the mansion's

it

was

open, while another explosion

The Peruvian

special forces

stormed the residence.

The hostages had been given a warning by ten minutes before the rescue effort

ignited

the

Red Cross

began and were

liaison

told

where

not to be.

Once the

special forces

were quickly brought out to

stormed the embassy, the hostages

to safety.

Some of

the

MRTA rebels tried

defend themselves against the special forces, but they were

severely outnumbered

was

later reported that

and poorly armed; they were

some

rebels were shot after they

had

sur-

growing evidence that the military had been

rendered. There

is

given "shoot to

kill" instructions,

and that when rebels surren'

dered they were executed instead of arrested. In a

all killed. It

statement regarding the hostage situation. Amnesty

International asked the Peruvian authorities

"to

act on the

appalling fact that several hundred innocent prisoners

been falsely accused of terrorism International

condemned

residence, but

it still

the

still

languish in

MRTA takeover of

who have

jail."

Amnesty

the ambassador's

supports the need to improve the inhumane

conditions of Peru's terrorist prisons and the release of

all

inno-

cents unjustly convicted under the nation's tough antiterrorist laws.

34

Lori Berenson Despite the fact that the MRTA was passionately opposed to

American influence

more

woman

than

group would receive

in Peru, the

international attention thanks to an it

While opinions

could ever have gained through differ

Berenson was, there trated the plight of

its

on just how involved with the is

American

own

actions.

MRTA

no doubt that she has graphically

Lori illus-

Peru's political prisoners to a previously

unaware American audience.

The Road

to

Lori Berenson

grew up

Peru in

New

York

City.

She studied music

in

high school and attended college at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), majoring

in anthropology. In 1989,

while a freshman at MIT, Berenson participated in a student

exchange program with the University of Central America

in El

Salvador. There, she experienced firsthand the violence of that country's civil war. She

was moved by

the inequality she

decided to take a leave of absence from

something

MIT

saw and

so that she could do

to help.

Berenson eventually

left

college for

good and moved

to

Nicaragua, where she lived and worked for two years assisting

members

of the Salvadoran refugee community.

35

During

this

Lori Berenson relatively

was born and

raised in

New York

City.

few females to attend the Massachusetts

She was one

Institute of

of the

Technology

(MIT). Her studies brought her to El Salvador in the late 1980s where she

examined the problem of unfair income and land

distribution. In 1990, she

work among El Salvadoran refugees displaced by covmtry. She traveled to Peru in November 1994 and

traveled to Nicaragua to

the

civil

became

war

in their

intrigued with the country's history, culture,

time, she also

worked as

a secretary,

and

politics.

computer programmer, and

translator for Salvadoran rebels living in exile in Nicaragua.

After a peace treaty

ernment and the

was signed between

rebels,

the Salvadoran gov-

ending the twelve-year

36

civil

war,

Lori Berenson Berenson moved

San Salvador

to

and spent two years working racy's

newly elected

for

(the capital of El Salvador)

one of the developing democ-

As she

politicians.

learned more about

Latin America, Berenson became interested in Peru.

An

Acquaintance with Terrorists

Berenson began her

trip to

she was twenty-five years

South America old.

As

in the fall of 1994,

a student of antlii'opology, she

By December

enjoyed learning about different cultures.

had decided

when

1994, she

Lima. She acquired journalist credentials from

to live in

two small New York-based magazines so that she could write about the fate of

Once architect,

women

in

in

Peru as well as other human-rights

issues.

Lima, Berenson became friends with a Panamanian

and together they rented a house

area of that

city. It

was a

large house,

in the

La Molina

which the architect also

used as a studio for his paintings. Berenson spent most of her time enjoying Lima and other parts of Peru, immersing herself in all aspects of

To floor

offset

Peruvian culture.

some

apartment

to

of the costs of the house, they sublet the fourth-

someone who claimed

to

be an engineer (He was

actually Miguel Rincon, one of the founders of the

claims to have been unaware of his

identity.)

MRTA. Berenson

The engineer had

houseguests staying with him fi'om time to time. After a few months,

Berenson claims that she wanted more privacy than the house provided, so she

moved

to

an apartment

Borjia, closer to central Lima.

in

another neighborhood, San

Berenson was on her

way back to this

apartment fi'om the congressional building where she worked when she was arrested.

MRTA

Peru's

The Arrest and Raid On the evening of November 30, Rosa were riding a Lima ing a session of

city

Congress.

1995, Lori Berenson

bus on

As

their

way home from came

the bus

unmarked policemen climbed aboard

and her friend attend-

the bus, dragged

them

and arrested them both. Berenson had been doing research article

women

she was writing about poverty and

claimed that she had no idea

(DINCOTE) were Berenson would

arresting her. Neither,

later allege that

Gilvonio, the wife of

high-ranking

off,

for

in Peru,

an

and

why the Peruvian antiterrorism police seemed, did Rosa.

it

her friend Rosa,

as a photographer from Bolivia,

herself

two

to a stop,

was

who

presented

Nancy

actually

MRTA cofounder Nestor Cerpa and an alleged

MRTA member herself.

They were taken to the DINCOTE headquarters and questioned.

A

few hours

DINCOTE

later,

officers

Berenson was put into a car with

and diiven

to the

borhood of Lima where she once

house

lived.

house, Berenson could see hundi"eds of the area.

The police told

She was very hesitant

in the

La Molina neigh-

When they pulled up armed

soldiers surrounding

to follow their orders

Some

DINCOTE

knew

there were children in

stormed the house

in

a neighbor's home, and took the residents

—

car.

MRTA

search of

of the rebels fired back. Others fled the house,

went

to

thi"ee children, their

—hostage. With Berenson held

mother, and a grandmother

bell.

because there was obvi-

nearby houses. Berenson said she would not get out of the

rebels.

to the

her to go to the front door and ring the

ously going to be a gunfight, and she

Instead, the

armed

fully

in the

MRTA and the police fought through the night. By morning, three MRTA rebels and one policeman were dead. After negotiating car,

the

38

Lori Berenson, guarded by two police officers, enters a house used as a rebel hideout during a judicial investigation two

weeks

after her arrest

by Peruvian security forces on November 30, 1995. Before her arrest, the New York City native had lived in a house in a Lima suburb shared by MRTA members. Berenson claims she was in the country working as a freelance journalist and that she never knew her housemates were suspected terrorists.

with a local neighbor's

priest,

Miguel Rincon released the hostages from the

home and gave

The DINCOTE

who had been

himself up as a prisoner of war.

police arrested sixteen

living at the

members

of the

MRTA

house and found a large supply of

weapons and ammunition. They

39

also found floor plans

and a

Peru's

MRTA MRTA

three-dimensional model of the Peruvian Congress.

The

rebels were accused of planning an attack on the

government

building during which they were going to kidnap several congressional representatives,

the release of

whom they would free in exchange for

MRTA

imprisoned

members. Berenson was

included in the arrest, accused of being an

MRTA

leader

and a

participant in the planning of the attack on Congress.

Interrogation and Trial Berenson was again interrogated when she was returned to the

DINCOTE to repent.

headquarters after the La Molina arrests and pressured

During the following days, she was held

in

a

the

cell at

headquarters and was told that others had repented and implicated her as a leader of the

MRTA. Thanks

of respected groups such as

known

that the

DINCOTE

to the investigative research

Amnesty

International,

it

Berenson. She told her interrogators that she

had never been a member of the MRTA,

let

was not

and

leaders.

its

opposed

to a

which, according to the antiterrorist laws of Fujimori's

constitution, is the appropriate court for people being tried

high-level terrorism charges. different

The rules for a

than those of a regular

civil tiial;

much time to speak to his or her the prosecutor does not always are.

(as

work on

currently

alone one pf

Berenson was very quickly given a military

new

widely

uses torture and the threat of torture to

get people to confess or repent, though this did not

civil) trial,

is

There

vSented

is

no

by both

a person

is

trial

sides

as

military

guilty or not based

in

Peru are

the defendant does not get

lawyer, the judge wears a hood, tell

the defendant

we would understand

and a jury

ti'ial

on

it,

and

what the charges

with evidence pre-

of regular citizens deciding whether

upon

40

this evidence.

There

is

also

no

Lori Berenson opportunity for cross-examination (when a defendant's lawyer can question prosecution witnesses and accusers). These hial conditions are

condemned by

tions because

it

international human-rights

makes

it

legal organiza-

impossible for accused people to properly

defend themselves.

As a result,

the military courts

is

Berenson's

and

the conviction rate of people tried in

almost 100 percent, unless they repent.

"trial" violated international

standards of justice to

an even greater degree than Peru's typical military Rather than taking place trial

more

in a

courtroom with a judge and

closely resembled a series of conferences

judge, the prosecutor,

and the defense

attorney.

claimed that Berenson was a leader of the

Her lawyer did

her parents,

between the

The prosecutor

—not a Peruvian

his best to defend her, but he let

Mark and Rhoda, know

jury, her

MRTA and a traitor to

Peru (despite the fact that she's an American zen).

terrorist trials.

that he

citi-

Berenson and

would have a

difficult

time proving her innocence given the restrictions placed upon him.

During the

trial

quarters and

period, Berenson

was

was

held at the

DINCOTE

head-

able to see her parents almost every day.

The Conviction and Sentence As predicted by her lawyer, Berenson was

MRTA

being a leader of the ing her sentence, she street tion,

was

from the

and a

was moved

DINCOTE

quickly found guilty of

traitor to Peru.

to a cell in the prison across the

headquarters. Even after her convic-

she was interrogated at

all

hours of the day and night and

occasionally denied bathroom privileges.

her sentence

was handed down, she was forced

rat-infested cell with a

While await-

Two weeks

before

to share her filthy,

woman who had just had surgery and was

suffering from injuries that no one

41

was tending

to.

Lori Berensoii Degaii serving the

Peruvian military tribunal

at

lite

sentence nancled clown to her by a

Yanamayo Prison

(pictured here),

miles southeast of Lima, and 12,700 feet above sea

level,

525

high in the

Andes. The prison is said to be so cold that inmates' hands turn purple when they wash their own clothing (as they are required to do). Following the overturning of the life sentence and a new conviction in a civil court,

Berenson was moved

to

Socabaya Prison outside Arequipa,

Peru, to begin a twenty-year sentence.

After ten days of this treatment, sleep deprived and emotionally unstable, she

was

told that she

given sixty seconds to

tell

would be presented

to the

media and

her side of the story. Following almost

two weeks of sleepless nights shared with an injured and helpless

woman, Berenson suddenly found with television cameras,

and spoke

in a

all

herself thrust into a

room

filled

pointing at her. She looked disheveled

very loud and angry voice. She had been told to

42

yell

Lori Berenson because there was no microphone. Berenson seemed out of control.

Her parents said they had never seen her

like this before.

dered what must have been done to her in prison to

and sound

this way. In her presentation,

They won-

make

her look

Berenson spoke about the

hunger, misery, and injustice that exists in Peru and said that the

MRTA are not terrorists, but revolutionaries. She said she loves the people of Peru and

is

someday

confident that

there will be justice

for all Peruvians.

Under usual circumstances, once prisoners are convicted of terrorism and sentenced, they are then presented to the press, giv-

ing them one last opportunity to speak before being taken off to prison. This way, a prisoner's final statement cannot be used

against

him

however,

or her

when determining a

was presented

to the

prison sentence. Berenson,

media before her sentencing. As a

result of her speech, the thirty-year sentence that

by

the prosecution

was

reconsidered,

was requested

and the judge gave her a

life

sentence instead.

In

Yanamayo

Berenson was quickly sent prison, located in the

Andes

to the

infamous Yanamayo

at 12,700 feet

above sea

remote, frigid location, she would begin seizing her

life

Yanamayo, there

by

the walls

is

no heating, the

and the beds are made of

the floor that sei"ves as a

a small

cells are six feet

window close to

toilet.

concrete,

level.

and there

is

a hole in

cell,

there

is

The win-

Two inmates share each cell

and sleep on the cona'ete slabs. The inmates are allowed out of cold cells for only half an hour each day.

43

At

ten feet long,

the ceiling with bars but no glass. cold.

In this

sentence.

Across from Berenson's

dow lets in a little light and a lot of

terrorist

their

Peruvian police guard the Lima house where Lori Berenson allegedly helped MRTA members plot an attack on the Peruvian Congress in 1995. During Berenson's civil retrial on terrorism charges, she was brought back to her old home for a re-enactment of events surrounding her arrest. Berenson continues to insist that she never met the MRTA rebels living upstairs from her and certainly never

members

knew they were

of a terrorist organization.

Berenson was not allowed visitors during her

Her parents flew

to

Yanamayo from New York

first

year in prison.

City as soon as they

heard she had been sentenced and were surprised and deeply disappointed to find out that they could not see

theii'

however, allowed to leave some sweaters and

44

daughter.

They

toiletiies for her.

were,

Lori Berenson 1

1

Lori Berenson: In Her When

asked by the author

how

Own Words

she would describe her situation,

Lori Berenson, currently serving her sentence at the Huacariz

Prison in Cajamarca, Peru, had this to say:

"My

situation

(and millions of

oned for

human

my belief

in

my

same

as] that of

thousands of Peruvians

beings on Earth).

and work

extremely

in prison is

renouncing

the

[is

difficult,

principles or

I

am

currently impris-

for social justice.

much worse

Although being

than that would be

becoming an accomplice

to a

system

of injustice."

Berenson 's parents would travel from her as often as

They brought

who is

was

New

allowed, usually twice a

food, clothes, vitamins,

York City

month

and medicine

for

one hour.

for Berenson,

shared them with her fellow inmates. Without these

would have been able

unlikely Berenson

to visit

gifts,

it

to stay healthy in the

harsh living conditions of Yanamayo.

A New Trial In 2000, after

spending

Berenson's conviction

five years in

Peruvian terrorist prisons,

was overturned when some

at the

hostage

publicly offered proof that she

the

MRTA. She was

opposed

who

Japanese ambassador's residence during the

had been held crisis,

politicians,

given a

new

trial,

this

was

one

not a leader of

in a civilian (as

to a military) terrorism court. Peru's civil terrorist courts

have three judges (who do not wear hoods) but no parents continue to visit her in prison a

45

jury. Berenson's

minimum of once a month.

Lori Berenson's parents attend the retrial of their daughter on April 4,

2001, year

in civil court.

jail

The

trial

would

result in a conviction

and a twenty-

term. Berenson's parents continue to wage a public-relations

on their daughter's behalf, lobbying members of the U.S. Congress, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, and the Organization of American States. battle

46

Lori Berenson In the

summer of

2001, Berenson

was found

guilty

by

this civil

court of being a collaborator (defined as having befriended an

MRTA member, the person

regardless of whether or not she

was a member

of the group)

was aware

and sentenced

to

that

twenty

years in prison. According to the U.S. State Department, Peru's civilian terrorism court

of openness, fairness,

has failed "to meet international standards

and due

process." Human-rights groups

around the world condemn Peru's terrorism courts military

—and

the antiterrorism laws.

—both

Many have

civil

said that

impossible for Lori Berenson to find justice in Peru.

and it

is

Amnesty

International considers her a political prisoner.

Berenson appealed her conviction as a collaborator, but her request

was denied

in

February 2002. Unless the new president of

Peru, Alejandro Toledo, or a future successor pardons her or

grants her clemency antiterrorist

laws

in

(a

reduced sentence), or the controversial

Peru change, Lori Berenson

from prison on November

She

will

be released

be forty-six years

old.

Her chances of an early release do not seem promising.

On

March 25,

29, 2015.

will

2002, according to the Associated Press, President Toledo

told U.S. president

George W. Bush,

her, that the issue of Lori

who had suggested clemency for

Berenson

47

is "totally

closed."

Conclusion Even began

as the

MRTA died, the government

to unravel, sinking

it

sought to replace

under the weight of the crimes

MRTA members had long sought to expose. In the midst of a widening scandal involving government corruption and humanrights abuses, Fujimori resigned as president in

and is

fled to Japan, the

country where his parents were born. There

also reason to believe that Fujimori himself

a fact he hid

in

November 2001

was born

in

Japan,

order to be eligible to run for the presidency of

Peru. Japan quickly gave

him

be extradited (sent back)

to

citizenship,

Peru

and as a

result,

he cannot

to face the charges against him.

Japanese law does not allow extradition of Proof of the corruption that the

its citizens.

MRTA long claimed was pres-

ent within the Fujimori government emerged in 2000

when

video-

tapes turned up that showed Vladimiro Montesinos (head of Peru's National Intelligence Service ident) bribing judges

and

and a close adviser

politicians.

Montesinos

to the pres-

is

currently

being investigated on charges of arms and drug trafficking and illegal

money

transfers.

He was

also found to possess several

Swiss bank accounts containing more than $100 million

most of

it

dollars,

probably stolen from the government treasury, while

millions of Peruvian citizens continued to live in utter poverty.

Since his flight to Japan, Fujimori has been indicted on crimes linking

him and Montesinos

to the death

48

squads responsible for the

The grave

and cofoiinder of the MRTA, stands alone in a corner of Nueva Esperanza Cemetery in the Villa Maria section of Lima, Peru. Cerpa and thirteen other MRTA members were killed by antiterrorist commandos when the Pemvian govenmient put an end to the MRTA's takeover of the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima. The government buried the fourteen dead MRTA rebels in various graveyards in shantytowns on the outskirts of Lima, without any fimeral services. The families of the dead MRTA members had wanted to give them Christian burials, but their requests were denied. of Nestor Cerpa, military leader

Barrios Altos massacre. Following the capture of Montesinos in 2001, the existence of state-sponsored terrorism has been proven,

supporting what human-rights groups have said for years

thousands of innocent people were Peruvian government's special

forces.

49

killed at the

—

that

hands of the

Peru's In 2000, Alejandro Toledo

was

Peru. In the previous election, he

but that earlier race was

MRTA elected as the

had come

in

new

president of

second to Fujimori,

later declared unfair. President

Toledo has

said that his administration's first priority will be reducing poverty.

The Peruvian people have heard

the exact

same words from

previ-

ous presidents and are understandably skeptical. In 2002, approximately half the Peruvian population continued to

On the human-rights and democracy fronts, is

live in poverty.

the

new president

not doing any better. President Toledo has yet to restore the

1979 constitution abolished by Fujimori and undo the

illegal

imprisonments brought about by the Fujimori government's antiterrorism laws.

Nor has he closed any

deemed unacceptable by

of the terrorist prisons

international human-rights groups.

Following the release of a forensic report in

showed

that eight of the

May

2002 that

MRTA members killed in the ambassador's

residence had been shot execution-style in the base of the neck,

Peruvian prosecutor Richard Saavedra filed homicide charges against eighteen

army

officers

and Montesinos. Fujimori's

role in the execu-

tions is also being investigated. In July 2002, Montesinos

victed of abuse of authority

and sentenced

The MRTA was never a very height of

its

popularity,

Membership began

it

con-

to nine years in prison.

large group. In the late 1980s, at the

had no more than 2,000

to fall after the

operatives.

1992 arrest of Victor Polay. In

October 1993, over 100 mid-level members of the to the

was

MRTA surrendered

Peruvian security forces under the guidelines of President

Fujimori's Repentance Law.

decreased the

The

number

MRTA

The La Molina shootout and

of high-ranking

tried to

make

a

members even

arrests

further.

comeback with the 1996 takeover

of the Japanese ambassador's residence

50

by gaining the

release of

image taken from a surveillance videotape, former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos (right) hands over money to the president of Panamericana Television (Channel 5 in Lima), Ernesto Schutz, in 1998. This bribe was paid in exchange for Channel 5's support for the government of then-president Alberto Fujimori and his reelection campaign. This is exactly the sort of government corruption and misuse of public funds the MRTA sought to expose and publicize before the group's ranks were depleted by arrests and deaths. In this

its

still

imprisoned comrades and generating a new wave of publicity

for its cause. Instead, the

The

MRTA

is

group was

now thought

to

all

but buried.

have no more than 100 active

members, mostly young fighters who lack leadership

skills

and

experience. Over the years, the group's focus has shifted from

51

Peru's

MRTA MRTA

revolutionary activity to attempts to free imprisoned

members. The group has not pulled

off

any major

terrorist

attacks since the takeover of the ambassador's residence, and in 2001,

it

was removed from

the U.S. State Department's

list

of for-

eign terrorist organizations.

The ]\IRTA emerged from for

economic and

Peru's impoverished villages to fight

political justice for all Peruvians.

members' commitment

Because of

its

to the well-being of their fellow citizens,

they sought to avoid harming the innocent in their attacks upon the symbols of

According used

to

all

MRTA

that they thought

founder

\'icror Polay. the

\'iolence to achieve its goals of

rejected political

Ultimately, the

changes

it

social

MRTA

Peru.

sometimes

change but never

dialogue that could have a\"oided

war.

civil

MRTA failed to bring about the social and political

wanted.

The MRTAs tion to

was destroying

relatively bloodless actions did indeed call atten-

government corruption and human-rights abuses. Perhaps

whate\'er improvements occur in Peruvian society as a result of this

new awareness can be

attributed at least in part to the

MRTAs efforts. Nearly all of

the group's

selves to their ideals, ending

up

that tried

—and sometimes

destroyed

b\'

members

either in prison or dead.

failed

—

to

avoid bloodshed

A group

was

the kind of government-sponsored \'iolence

seeking to expose. Perhaps the clearly illustrated than

it

was

MRTAs

it

itself

was

message was never more

in the group's violent death.

52

them-

saiJrificed

Glossary ambassador A his or her

high-ranking diplomatic

government as

The ambassador

Andes The

lives

its

official,

appointed by

representative to a host country.

and works

in the host country.

principal mountains of Peru with peaks that rise

higher than 20,000 feet above sea level and that run along the

western edge of South America.

DINCOTE

(Counter- Terrorism National Directorate)

Peruvian antiterrorist police force that was created by the Fujimori government specifically to fight terrorism,

diplomat

A person who

deals with international relations,

negotiating treaties, alliances, and agreements between countries.

imperialism

When

ence weaker ones.

powerful nations try to control or

The United

States

is

influ-

accused of practicing

these policies.

Inca Empire

In the fifteenth century, the Incas built a

wealthy and complex empire of over nine million people the Andes.

The Spanish conquered

the Inca

Empire

in

in the

early sixteenth century.

Incas Native South American people whose empire flourished from about

AD

1438 to the arrival of the Spanish

The descendants

in

AD

1532.

of the Incas account for roughly 50 percent

of today's population of Peru.

Peru's revolutionary

MRTA

Somebody who

is

committed

to causing, sup-

porting, or advocating a political or social change;

fighting for the overthrow of a government tion of a

new system

someone

and the

installa-

of rule.

SIN (National Intelligence Service) The Peruvian government's national intelligence service that was led

by Vladimiro Montesinos during President Fujimori's term in office.

terrorist

A person who uses terror,

violence,

and intimidation

to create a state of fear to achieve a political or social goal.

Yanamayo One feet

above sea

of Peru's terrorist prisons, located at 12,700 level in the

Berenson spent the

first

northern town of Puno Peru. Lori

three years of her sentence there.

54

For More Information Amnesty

International

322 Eighth Avenue

New

York,

NY

10001

(212) 807-8400

Web

site:

http://www.amnesty.org

Central hitelligence

Agency (CIA)

Office of Public Affairs

Washington,

DC

20505

(703) 482-0623

Web

site:

http://www.cia.gov

Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence

Department of International Relations University of St.

St.

Andrews

Andrews, Scotland KY16

Web

site:

9AL

http://www.st-and.ac.uk/academic/intrel/research/cstpv

Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Intelligence Resource

1717

Program

K Street NW

Suite 209

Washington,

DC

20036

(202) 454-4691

Web

site:

http://www.fas.org/irp/index.html

55

Peru's Human

MRTA

Rights Watch

350 Fifth Avenue 34th Floor

NewYork,

NY

10118-3299

(212) 290-4700

Web

http://www.hrw.org

site:

National Security

Agency (NSA)

Public Affairs Office

9800 Savage Road Fort George G. Meade,

MD 20755-6779

(301) 688-6524

Web

http://www.nsa.gov

site:

National Security histitute (NSI)

116 Main Street Suite 200

Medway,

MA 02053

(508) 533-9099

Web

Terrorist

'

http://nsi.org

site:

Group

Profiles

Dudley Knox Library Naval Post Graduate School 411 Dyer Road Monterey,

Web

site:

CA

93943

http://web.nps.navy.mil/~library/tgp/tgp2.htm

56

For More Information Washington

Office

on Latin America

1630 Connecticut Avenue

NW

Suite 200

Washington,

DC

20009

(202) 797-2171

Web

site:

Web Due

http://www.wola.org

Sites

to the

changing nature of hiternet hnks, the Rosen

PubHshing Group,

Inc.,

has developed an online

related to the subject of this book. This site

Please use this link to access the

list:

http://www.rosenlinks.com/iwmito/pemr/

57

is

list

of

updated

Web

sites

regularly.

For Further Reading Berenson, Rhoda. Lori: Peru. Everts,

New

My Daughter

Wrongfully Imprisoned in

York: Context Books, 2000.

Tammy.

Peru: The People and Culture. Minneapolis,

MN:

Econo-Clad Books, 1999.

Kalman, Bobbie. Peru: The Land.

New

York: Crabtree Publishing

Co., 1994.

King, David C. Peru: Lost

Benchmark Books, Landau, Elaine. Peru.

Cities,

Found Hopes. Boston:

1997.

New

York: Childi*en's Press, 2000.

MacDonald, Fiona, and David Salariya. Inca Town. Franklin Watts, Poole, Deborah,

Inc.,

New York:

1999.

and Gerardo Renique. Peru: Time of Fear.

London: Latin America Bureau, 1992. Worth, Richard. Pizarro and the Conquest of the Incan Empire in

World History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers,

h-ic.,

2000.

58

Bibliography

Associated Press. "Berenson Case

New

York Times,

March

Associated Press. "Fujimori

New

Is Closed,

Bush Hears

26, 2002. Is

Charged

York Times, September

6,

in

Death Squad Murders."

2001.

Associated Press. "Peruvian Rebel Refuses to Repent." Times, March

7,

New

Berenson, Mark, interview with author.

New

2002.

York, NY,

New

York, NY,

29, 2002.

Berenson, Rhoda. Lori: Peru.

2,

29, 2002.

Berenson, Rhoda, interview with author.

March

York

2002.

Berenson, Lori, written reply to author's questions, April

March

in Peru."

New York: Miami

Wrongfully Imprisoned in

Context Books, 2000.

Bridges, Tyler. "Peru's Poverty."

My Daughter

New President Vows to Lift Nation from

Herald, July 29, 2001.

Brooke, James. "The Rebels and the Cause: 12 Years of Peru's Turmoil."

New

York Times, December 19, 1996.

Escobar, Gabriel. "Peru Rebels

Abroad than

at

More Agile

Home." Washington

Forero, Juan. "Prisoners in Peru

Demand New Hilton, Isabel.

Trials."

New

Seek a

Post,

January

Way Out;

Message

19, 1997.

Captives of

War

York Times, March 30, 2002.

"The Government

Montesinos Vanished

at Delivering

Amid

Is

Missing; Fujimori and

Strange Stories of Soothsayers,

59

MRTA

Peru's Bribes,

and Secret Videos. But

New

The

Yorker,

March

Ki'auss, Clifford. "Released

Restraint."

New

5,

Who Was Really

in

Charge?"

2001.

Hostages Say Rebels Acted with

York Times, December 24, 1996.

Krauss, Clifford. "Rescue in Peru:

The Overview; Peru Troops

Rescue Hostages; Rebels Slain as Standoff Ends."

New

York

Times, April 23, 1997.

and Gerardo Renique. Peru: Time of Fear. London:

Poole, Deborah,

Latin America Bureau, 1992. Reyes, Francisco. "Peru's Deadly Front, Corruption

New President Outi'aged by 4,

Ai"e

Booming."

28, 1993.

Robinson, Eugene. "Amid Peru's

August

Habit: Behind the Fujimori

and Cocaine Trafficking

Washington Post, February

Post,

Drug

Ills,

Justice

System Heads the

List;

Prison Conditions." Washington

1990.

Rudolph, James D. Peru: The Evolution of a

Crisis.

Westport, CT:

Praeger Publishers, 1992. Sheridan,

Mary

Crisis."

Beth. "Peruvian Prison Life Is Backdi'op to Hostage

Los Angeles Times, December

27, 1996.

Simpson, John. In the Forests of the Night: Encountersin Peru with Terrorism, Lh'ug-Running,

Random Stavig,

and Military

Oppression.

New York:

House, 1994.

Ward. The World of Tupac Amaru:

Community, and

Conflict,

Identity in Colonial Peru. Lincoln,

NE:

University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Strong, Simon. Shining Path: Terror

York:

Times Books,

1993.

60

and Revolution

in Peru.

New

Index A Amaru, Tupac, 4

El Callao Naval Base, 21

American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA),

Amnesty

9,

11

International, 18, 34, 40, 47

Fujimori, Alberto, 14-17, 21, 26, 30, 50

antiterrorism legislation and, 14-17,

B

21, 23, 40,

Barrios Altos massacre,

17,

new

48-49

Berenson, Lori, 35-47 arrest

of, 37, 38,

in Central

trial of,

in Peru,

resignation

40

of,

Berenson,

48

41-43

45-47 Garcia, Alan, 11-13 Gilvonio, Nancy, 27, 38

43-45

Guevara, Che, 18

quote from, 45 trial of,

of,

Fujimori, Pedro, 26

37

in prison,

constitution and, 15, 23, 40, 50

America, 35-37

conviction and sentence

new

50

Barrios Altos massacre and 48-49

Ballon Vera, David, 20

Guzman, Abimael, 25

40-41

Mark and Rhoda,

41, 43,

H

44-45 Bush, George W., 47

Huacariz Prison, 45

human-rights violations 15, 17,

coca, 11,

4,

23-24, 40-41, 47, 48-49,

50, 52

Canto Grande Prison, 21 Cerpa, Nestor,

in Peru, 7,

9-10, 24, 27, 30, 38

I

20-21

Inca Empire,

4,

8

D DINCOTE

(antiterrorist police force),

15, 21, 24, 38, 39, 40, 41

drug

lords, 21,

Japanese ambassador's party, attack on,

24

2^34,

61

45, 50-51,

52

7

Peru's Jett,

MRTA P

Dennis, 26

Juanjui, Peru, 13

Peru democratic elections and,

L La

economic problems Colina,

of,

4-6,

7, 8,

government corruption and,

1

Lima, Peru, 11,20,

2L

26,

37

Barrios Altos massacre

in,

13, 23,

in,

7,

13

8-11,

48

independence from Spain, 8

17

military dictatorships and, 8

Francisco Pizarro and, 8 terrorism

14

8, 11,

13-14, 15, 19

poverty and,

6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 18, 48,

50

state-sponsored terrorism and, 17,

M

18, 24,

48-49, 52

Peruvian Communist Pary, 9 Montesinos, Vladimiro,

14,

48-49, 50 Pizarro, Francisco, 8

MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario

Polay, Victor,

4,

Tupac Amarti) arrest

arrests of

members, 21-23,

9-10, 11,52

of, 21, 25,

50

24,

27-30, 39-40, 50

R

attack on Japanese ambassador's party, 26-34, 45, 50-51, 52

attacks by/methods

rebel groups, 9

of, 11, 13, 14,

Repentance Law, 16-17,

18-19, 24

Rincon, Miguel,

avoidance of violence, 20,

7, 12, 18, 19,

in prison, 25,

4,

23,

50

9-10, 37

39

52

coca and, 20-21

death of members, deaths caused by, decline

goals

of,

of,

13, 34, 38,

18,

50 Saavedra, Richard, 50

20

Shining Path,

21-23, 48, 50-52

9, 15, 17,

Abimael Guzman and, 25

4-6, 9-10, 13, 21-23, 51-52

hostages and, 26-34, 38-39

drug lords and, 21

kidnappings and, 19-20, 24

killings and, 9, 18,

Lori Berenson and, 35, 37-47

terrorism and, 13

origins

of,

18

24

Spaniards/Spanish Empire,

4-7, 9-10

4,

8

positive acts by, 24

protesting/attacking United States, 14, 15,

recruiting

4,

T

18-19, 23

terrorism in Peru,

members,

10, 11,

19

9, 13,

18

attack on US. Embassy, 14, 15, 18-19 in

Lima, 13-14

President Fujimori and, 14-17, 21,

National Intelligence Service, 17, 48

23, 40,

62

50

Index

u

prisons for convicted terrorists,

23-25, 27-30, 34, 43, 45, 50 U.S. resti-ictions

on

civil liberties

Embassy

in

Lima, Peru, attacks

and, 9 against, 14, 15, 18-19

state-sponsored, 17, 18, 24, 48-49, 52

terrorism 45,

Terry,

trials,

15-17, 21-23, 40-41,

Y

47

Fernando Belaunde, 8

Yanamayo

Toledo, Alejandro, 47, 50

Tupac

Amam

II,

4

63

Prison, 27, 43-45

Peru's

MRTA

About the Author Suzie Baer

is

an independent filmmaker who

husband and son

in

New York

lives

with her

City.

Photo Credits

© Fernando Llano/ APAVide World Photos; p. 1 © Luis Romero/AP/Wide World Photos; pp. 5, 6, 10, 42, 51 © APAVide World Photos; pp. 12, 25, 49 © Martin Mejia/ APAVide World Photos; pp. 16, 44, 46 © Corbis; p. 22 © Fotos De MRTA; pp. 27, 28-29 © Scott Dalton/APAVide World Photos; p. 28 (inset) © Douglas Engle/ APAVide World Photos; p. 33 (inset) © Ricardo Mazalan/AP/Wide World Photos; p. 36 © Mark and Rhoda Berenson; p. 39 © Silvia Izquierdo/ APAVide World Photos. Cover, pp. 32-33

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