In the late 1980s and early 1990s Peru experienced a sudden increase in political violence from domestic groups the government classified as terrorist organizations. Two of the most active were the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) and the Shining Path (SL). MRTA was well known for the use of kidnappings, extortion, bank robberies, and targeted violence to promote its advocacy of overthrowing the existing government structure. Peru's president at the time, Alberto Fujimori, embarked on a highly-structured, aggressive push to weed out domestic terror groups and put an end to the domestic insurgency.
Lori Berenson and Tupac Amaru
Lori Berenson moved to Peru in 1994. An American who is the daughter of college professors, Berenson had studied at MIT and traveled throughout central America as well, assisting refugees in El Salvador in the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to a website devoted to her release and created by her parents, FreeLori.org:
"On November 30, 1995 Lori Berenson was arrested on a public bus in downtown Lima, accused of leading an insurgent organization, the MRTA. A hooded military tribunal, using antiterrorism legislation promulgated during a state of emergency, sentenced her to life for 'treason against the fatherland.' Four-and-a half years later, due to international pressure, her sentence was vacated and she was retried by a civilian court under the same antiterrorism legislation. She presently is serving a 20-year sentence for collaboration."
MRTA, Terrorism, and Alberto Fujimori
Then-president Alberto Fujimori campaigned on a platform of zero tolerance for terrorism, as Peru dealt with extremist groups such as the higher-profile Shining Path along with MRTA. Both groups sought to destabilize the established government through the use of violence and to create left-leaning, indigenous-inspired collective societies inspired by pre-Columbian structures.
Berenson maintains her innocence, claiming she was never a member of the Tupac Amaru movement. The Peruvian government claims that Berenson was a leader in the MRTA movement, that she lived in a home for MRTA members, and that she created fake press credentials to gain access to the Peruvian Congress to create maps to be used in future terrorist activities against the government.
In an October 18, 2000 interview for the CBS television network's news magazine show, 48 Hours, Berenson presented her arguments against the government's case:
"I've worked as a journalist," though she's never had anything published. Berenson said. "I was trying to write articles," she added, noting it was more self-satisfying than monetary.
On Nov. 30, 1995, Berenson had spent the day in the congress. When she left, she wasn't alone. With her was the wife of Nestor Cerpa, the leader of the MRTA terrorist organization.
The two were later arrested by anti-terrorist police. But Berenson claimed that she never knew her friend had a connection to the MRTA.
When asked if the people she socialized with were members of the MRTA, she said, "That wasn't to my knowledge at the time."
Berenson Eligible for Parole in 2010
In 2003 Lori Berenson married Aníbal Apari Sánchez, who was convicted and imprisoned on charges of being an MRTA member. Apari was paroled in 2003 and currently works as a lawyer assisting people charged and convicted of terrorism and similar charges. The couple are permitted conjugal visits by law, and in March 2009 Lori Berenson gave birth to a son. Under Peruvian law, the child is permitted to be raised by his mother in prison until the age of three.
Berenson and her supporters, including organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, claim that her rights were violated in both of her trials. A 2004 appeal before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found in favor of the government of Peru, ending Berenson's legal options. She has been incarcerated since late 1995 and is eligible for parole in November 2010. Should she be paroled, Lori Berenson will be deported immediately as a condition of her release.
To read more about terrorism in Peru, go to The Shining Path - Violence in Peru.
References:
Imprisoned U.S. citizen Berenson has baby in Peru, Reuters
20-year Sentence for New Yorker After 2nd Terrorism Trial in Peru, New York Times
"Lori Berenson Speaks," 48 Hours, CBS, October 18, 2000. From transcript.
FreeLori.org
"Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement" in Extremist Groups, eds. Lerner, K. Lee and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Thomson Gale: Farmington Hills, MI, 2005.
Melanie Zoltan - Melanie Zoltan is a former college professor and administrator who has written for About.com, PCWorld, Brain Child, Thomson Gale, and ...
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