Peru’s President Details Coup Plot Against Him

More than 20 active and retired army officers were under arrest Saturday for allegedly plotting to assassinate President Alberto Fujimori in a failed coup.

New details of Friday’s attempted coup given by Fujimori indicated the alleged conspiracy may have been broader than previously thought. Critics of Fujimori’s one-man rule, however, questioned whether the arrests weren’t a publicity stunt staged by the president.

The government announced the attempted coup after Fujimori took steps to assume greater control of the military. But the retired commanders charged with leading the revolt denied that they tried to overthrow the government.

The government sought to portray the attempted coup as a threat to elections scheduled for Nov. 22 to replace Congress, which Fujimori shut down in April, saying that corruption was blocking his war on drugs and terrorism.

The elections were called under international pressure, however, and are being boycotted by Peru’s two largest political parties, which contend the assembly would only serve to legitimize Fujimori’s dictatorial powers.

Speaking on a radio talk show Saturday, Fujimori identified more than a dozen officers and civilians allegedly involved in the plot and said three army generals were under house arrest.

The National Intelligence Service followed the conspirators’ every step, Fujimori said, and were waiting for them to act Friday while he slipped out of the presidential palace to a safehouse.

Gustavo Gorriti, a Peruvian journalist and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, called Fujimori’s detailed account of the plot “plain propaganda.”

“I wonder to what extent . . . this is a way of indicting and accusing potential leaders in the armed forces and sending a message of intimidation to the rest,” Gorriti said from Washington.

Critics’ suspicions were raised Friday when the government identified only three retired generals and one active commander.

No armored units moved to support the plotters. But the expanded list of conspirators Fujimori disclosed included the second in command of security in the presidential palace, Maj. Hugo Ormeno.