Guerrilla Attack Seriously Injures Peru Election Chief

Suspected leftist guerrillas today hurled a suitcase full of dynamite at a car carrying the head of Peru’s elections board and then sprayed the vehicle with machine-gun fire, seriously wounding the official, his chauffeur and bodyguard, police said.

The elections board official, Domingo Garcia Rada, 72, was rushed to a hospital where doctors operated for an hour to extract a bullet from his forehead, authorities said. Doctors said shards of bone penetrated parts of Garcia Rada’s brain.

One of the attackers was wounded and captured, police said.

Garcia Rada, a cousin of President Fernando Belaunde Terry, is head of the National Elections Board that this week began official count of votes from the first round of Peru’s April 14 presidential election.

Belaunde Terry rushed to the hospital and told reporters that Garcia Rada’s condition was “extremely critical.”

Blamed Guerrilla Group

He blamed the attack on “insane (men) bloodying our nation” in reference to the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path, which has waged a 5-year-old war against the government that has claimed about 5,100 lives.

Belaunde Terry, visibly moved and his voice quavering, told reporters at the hospital that the assassination attempt was aimed at disrupting the electoral process.

“They have made this man, a symbol of legal democratic transition, their target, but we will not let them interfere with the election process,” he said.

The attack occurred as Garcia Rada was driving to work. Witnesses said at least five suspected members of the Shining Path guerrilla group in three cars intercepted Garcia Rada’s auto about five blocks from his suburban home.