Peru Rebels Storm Diplomatic Party, Take Hundreds Hostage

Leftist guerrillas stormed the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Peru during a reception Tuesday night, taking hundreds of hostages, including the diplomat, Peru’s foreign minister, several Latin American envoys and Peruvian legislative leaders.

As many as 30 guerrillas armed with automatic weapons and explosives remained barricaded inside the residence in an upscale coastal neighborhood of Lima late Tuesday night, surrounded by police and soldiers.

In negotiations with Red Cross intermediaries and journalists, the members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, threatened to kill the hostages if Peruvian authorities did not release scores of imprisoned guerrillas.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries, and the guerrillas released a number of women hostages, including the sister and the mother of President Alberto Fujimori.

The number of hostages was estimated at between 500 and 800, but there was no official confirmation of those figures.

The hostages included the president of Peru’s Congress and the ambassadors of Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Korea, according to reports from the scene.

There were unconfirmed reports that three mid-ranking U.S. diplomats were attending the reception, but a U.S. Embassy spokesman said the U.S. ambassador was not in attendance.

The Japanese ambassador, Morihisa Aoki, was permitted by his captors to talk on the telephone with Japan’s NHK News but was forbidden by them to speak Japanese.

Speaking in Spanish, Aoki said 800 guests were being held hostage inside his residence but said the guerrillas had ordered him not to disclose the number of hostage-takers.

“There is no panic,” Aoki said. “It is under control. The guerrillas are calm. There are no deaths or injuries.”

However, other Japanese eyewitnesses, in telephone interviews, said three people did appear to have been injured in the initial attack, though it was not clear if they were hostages or guerrillas.

A Japanese eyewitness outside the residence said that 10 hostages had been released, mostly elderly people and women.

“They appear to be Japanese,” the man said.

Other reports put the number of hostages released at 30.

The guerrillas set off a loud explosion before charging into the reception shortly after 8 p.m., witnesses said.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that its secret emergency telephone hotline was cut by the guerrillas, implying that the attack had been carefully planned.

Security is generally tight at Japanese facilities in Lima because they have been the target of at least four terrorist attacks since 1987.

However, because of Tuesday’s party, security at the ambassador’s residence had been relaxed for the evening, Japanese television reported.

Hiroyuki Kimoto, the third-ranking diplomat in the Japanese Embassy, was near the front gate of the residence when the bombs went off. He was apparently greeting guests arriving for the party to celebrate the emperor’s birthday, which is Dec. 23.

While the guerrillas stormed the residence, Kimoto hid in the guard shack and was able to call the Foreign Ministry from his cellular phone.

Kimoto said that about 8:30 p.m. local time, a number of explosions were heard, followed by sustained gunfire.

“While we were talking to him, we could hear gunfire in the background,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “He said he couldn’t stick his head out.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said Japan had appealed to the government of Peru to protect the ambassador.

The well-organized attack stunned Peru.

Fujimori has built an image of stability around his conquest of the MRTA and the larger Shining Path terrorist movement, both of which have suffered major defeats after years of fighting that claimed 30,000 lives.

Peru has experienced an economic slump of late, stirrings of voter discontent with Fujimori and tension between the president and the powerful military.

“The circumstances are especially bad for Fujimori,” said Enrique Zileri, a political analyst and owner of Caretas magazine, in a telephone interview. “His strong suit was that he had supposedly controlled the subversive movements. We have had an economic chill, confrontations with the military. And now this.”

Moreover, the target of the terrorist strike was especially sensitive.

Peru and Japan have developed a close relationship aided by Fujimori’s Japanese heritage, and Japan recently announced a $600-million loan package for infrastructure development in Peru.

Japan is Peru’s second-biggest trading partner after the United States. Its active investment is key to Peru’s efforts to revitalize an economy burdened by poverty and recovering from years of war and political turmoil.

The MRTA is considered a classic Latin American guerrilla movement that finances its operations through kidnappings and robberies.

Experts say it is a smaller and less brutal group than the cult-like Maoists of Shining Path. Although the MRTA has a history of spectacular operations and a flair for Robin Hood-style propaganda, it had kept a low profile since a violent urban clash a year ago in which security forces captured terrorists who were allegedly planning to take over the Peruvian Congress.

There are hundreds of other accused MRTA guerrillas in Peruvian prisons. A self-proclaimed leader of the guerrillas holed up inside the embassy, identified as Comrade Huerta, told a Lima radio station by phone that the objective of the raid was to win the jailed rebels’ release from “the dungeons of various prisons.”