Jailed Spymaster Ready to Talk in Exchange for Perks

Peru’s captured former spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, who could be jailed for life on charges ranging from embezzlement to murder, is itching to talk, a senior judge who has questioned him said Wednesday.

Peruvians braced for more explosive revelations from the man at the center of the massive corruption scandal that brought down President Alberto Fujimori after Montesinos revealed Tuesday that he had an additional 30,000 secret videos up his sleeve.

“He has been cooperative and says he really feels the need to talk,” said Sergio Salas, a senior judge.

Montesinos, Fujimori’s right-hand man during his 10-year regime, faces charges in 52 cases ranging from money laundering to embezzlement to murder in a web of intrigue that so far has landed 43 people in jail and laid accusations against about 200 others.

Peruvians have been fascinated by the political puppeteer, who had been Latin America’s most wanted man until his arrest in Caracas last weekend after eight months on the run. The capture sparked squabbling between Venezuela, the FBI and Peru over who deserved the glory for grabbing him.

Peru was plunged into crisis last year with the appearance of a video showing Montesinos handing cash to an opposition politician. It was the first of a slew of so-called Vladivideos that revealed Montesinos’ systematic payoffs to Peru’s Congress, courts, media and military for favors for Fujimori.

But the scores of videos seen so far may just be a preview. “He said he had about 30,000 videos and was prepared to hand them over in exchange for benefits,” Patricia Hurtado, the lawyer assigned him by the state, said Tuesday.

Hurtado said Montesinos would not “tell his truth” until he was transferred from his current holding cell, which she said would happen Wednesday or today. Although a judge said Montesinos appeared “psychologically broken,” Hurtado said her client was “tranquil and in good health.”

But some Peruvians doubted this master of manipulation would ever come clean. “Maybe he won’t say anything--they’re going to give him life anyway,” said Eugenio Aguirre, 73.

Montesinos already appeared to be making the most of his position. He vowed to go on a hunger strike and clam up if moved to a naval base’s dreaded jail, which he himself designed, said his wife, Trinidad Becerra.

Meanwhile, an additional 154 videos and 26 audiotapes from a stash of more than 2,000 already seized were handed over to Congress this week.

Fujimori fled to Japan, where he is protected by dual citizenship from escalating moves to put him on trial.