U.S. Warms to Peru After Balloting : South America: But a U.S. diplomat points out that respect for human rights in fight against the rebels has ‘enormous importance.’

U.S.-Peruvian relations, chilled by President Alberto Fujimori’s April coup, seemed palpably warmer Monday after elections for a new national legislature. But a ranking U.S. diplomat said Washington needs more proof of democratic progress before it will fully renew cooperation with this troubled country.

Luigi Einaudi, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States and head of a U.S. contingent observing Sunday’s elections, also said that respect for human rights by the Peruvian government in its fight against Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas has “enormous importance” for the United States.

Einaudi’s statements Monday morning amounted to a stamp of approval for the elections--with a tacit warning that the United States will not condone authoritarian abuses under the guise of democracy. He made it clear that resumption of suspended American aid and other cooperation will be conditioned on further democratic advances under Fujimori.

“All of that can be renewed, and we want to renew it, but it won’t be done blindly and it’s going to be a process,” said Einaudi, speaking in Spanish to Peruvian and foreign reporters.

The United States will be watching to see whether the new Congress is allowed to function with democratic sovereignty after it opens in December, he said. “The important thing is its autonomy, its conditions for working, the possibilities for dialogue.”

Fujimori, who dissolved the old Congress in an April 5 coup supported by the military, said Sunday night that the new legislative body “will be absolutely sovereign.”

According to unofficial returns, an alliance of Fujimori’s Cambio (Change) 90 Party and independent candidates won a majority of seats in the new, 80-member Democratic Constituent Congress, which is to rewrite the constitution and perform other legislative functions until the end of Fujimori’s term in 1995.

Einaudi said that the United States also hopes to see postponed municipal elections carried out democratically in January, as promised by Fujimori. Other U.S. diplomats have indicated that, although small amounts of frozen economic aid may be released soon to Peru, the bulk of it will remain suspended at least until after the municipal elections.

Einaudi put special emphasis on the need for respecting human rights in Peru, where bloody terrorism and repression have killed thousands of people in the past decade. He said influential American human rights groups, including the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, have expressed concern about conditions here. “That is a problem that needs answers,” Einaudi said. “That is a point, I think, of enormous importance.”

Partly because of the war, Peru’s impoverished economy has been suffering a severe recession. While much U.S. aid has continued to flow since Fujimori’s coup, including anti-narcotics assistance and food donations, more than $100 million in U.S. economic aid has been suspended since then and other badly needed international funds have been delayed.

The United States has a special interest in increasing cooperation with Peru against drug trafficking. Peru is the world’s No. 1 producer of coca leaves, the raw material of cocaine. But U.S.-Peruvian programs for controlling drug traffic are now far from effective.

The poorly equipped Peruvian security forces need aid not only for combatting traffickers but also to improve their capacity for fighting guerrillas. In September, Peruvian police captured Sendero Luminoso’s top leader, Abimael Guzman, and analysts are puzzling over how serious a blow that may be to the rebel organization.

The guerrillas carried out a terrorist bombing campaign in Lima during the week before Sunday’s elections, but few people were killed, and the offensive had little apparent impact on voter turnout.

“Lots of people interpret that as a reflection of weakness in Sendero, and there is some weakness there, but we don’t know how much Sendero wanted to disrupt the elections,” said a diplomatic analyst who lives in Lima. He said the bombings did not seem to be “an all-out effort,” and the guerrillas may have intended mainly to show their presence.

Some analysts predict a bloodier offensive at the time of municipal elections in January. In the past, Sendero Luminoso has taken stronger action against municipal elections than congressional or presidential ones.