[Ennath]

April 22, 1997
Japanese Residence Rescue

Around 8:20 PM on December 17, 1996, 14 members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), a Marxist-Leninist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Peruvian government, blew a hole through the wall of the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima and took hostage more than 700 high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party celebrating Emperor Akihito’s 63rd birthday. Although strictly speaking the crisis took place at the ambassadorial residence in the upscale district of San Isidro rather than at the embassy proper, the media and others referred to it as the “Japanese embassy” hostage crisis, and that is how it is conventionally known. The Japanese ambassador's residence had been converted into a fortress by the Japanese government. It was surrounded by a 12-foot wall, and had grates on all windows, bullet-proof glass in many windows, and doors built to withstand the impact of a grenade. It was, therefore, an easy site to defend from the inside.

The news of the MRTA’s assault caused the Lima Stock Exchange to close 3 hours early, as domestic stocks plummeted. The news came during a period of low popularity for President Alberto Fujimori (down to 40% from a 1996 high of 75%), who had until then been credited with restoring peace to the country after terrorist activity largely ceased through the country during his first presidential term.

The insurgents made a series of demands: the release of MRTA members from prisons around Peru (including recently convicted US activist Lori Berenson).; a revision of the government’s free market reforms; a criticism of Japan’s foreign assistance program in Peru, arguing that this aid benefited only a narrow segment of society; and a protest against what they claimed were cruel and inhumane conditions in Peru’s jails.

On December 22, Fujimori made his first public announcement on the hostage-taking. In a televised 4-minute speech he condemned the assailants, calling the MRTA assault “repugnant” and rejecting the MRTA’s demands. He did not rule out an armed rescue attempt, but said that he was willing to explore a peaceful solution. He also publicly indicated that he did not need help from foreign security advisors, following speculation circulated that Peru was turning to foreign governments for assistance. Fujimori made his speech shortly after MRTA leader Néstor Cerpa Cartolini announced that he would gradually release any hostages who were not connected to the Peruvian government. During the months that followed, the rebels released all female hostages and all but 72 of the men. All of the Americans were among the freed.

In the days immediately following the takeover, the International Committee of the Red Cross acted as an intermediary between the government and members of the terrorist group. Among the hostages were high officials of Peru’s security forces, including Maximo Rivera, the chief of Peru's anti-terrorist police, DIRCOTE, and former chief Carlos Domínguez. Other hostages included Alejandro Toledo, who later became President of Peru, and Javier Diez Canseco, a socialist congressman. The 24 Japanese hostages included President Fujimori's own mother and younger brother.

Canseco was among the 38 men who were released very shortly after the hostages were taken. He defended the MRTA and called for the government to negotiate. Upon being freed, Alejandro Toledo said that what the MRTA really wanted was an amnesty that would allow its members to participate in public life. He said that any attempt to rescue the hostages by force would be “insane”, as they were “armed to the teeth”. Rooms in the building, as well as the roof, he said, were wired with explosives.. He added that the terrorists had anti-tank weapons and wore backpacks that were filled with explosives that could be detonated by pulling a cord on their chest.

Fujimori appointed a team to hold talks, including the Canadian ambassador Anthony Vincent, who had briefly been a hostage, Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani, and a Red Cross official. Fujimori even talked with Fidel Castro, raising media speculation that a deal was being worked out to let the guerrillas go to Cuba as political exiles. However, it was reported on January 17 that negotiations had stalled.

In early February, a new squad of Peruvian troops with heavy equipment took over the embassy vigil. They played loud military music and made provocative gestures to the rebels, who unleashed a burst of gunfire. This prompted the Prime Minister of Japan, Ryutaro Hashimoto, to publicly urge Peru to refrain from taking any unnecessary risks that could endanger the hostages’ lives. Fujimori subsequently met Hashimoto in Canada. The 2 leaders announced that they were in agreement on how to handle the situation but provided few details.

The MRTA called off the talks in March when they reported hearing loud noises coming from beneath the floor of the residence. Peruvian newspapers confirmed MRTA suspicions, reporting that the police were digging tunnels under the building. The police tried to cover up noise from the digging by playing loud music over loudspeakers and carrying out noisy tank maneuvers through the nearby streets.

In preparation for the rescue raid, one of the hostages, Adm. Luis Giampietri, an expert on intelligence and command operations, was secretly provided with a miniature 2-way radio set and given encrypted instructions to warn the hostages 10 minutes before the operation began, telling them to stay as far away as possible from the MRTA members. Light-colored clothes were systematically ferried in to the hostages, so that they could be distinguished easily from the dark-clad terrorists during the raid. Cerpa himself unwittingly helped when, hearing noise that made him suspect that a tunnel was being dug, he ordered all the hostages placed together on the second floor.

In addition, miniature microphones and video cameras had been smuggled in, concealed in books, water bottles, and table games. Giampietri and other military officers among the hostages were given the responsibility for placing these devices in secure locations around the house. Eavesdropping on the MRTA commandos with the help of these devices, planners observed that the insurgents had organized their security carefully, and were particularly alert during night hours. However, early every afternoon, 8 of the MRTA members, including the 4 leaders, played indoor soccer for about an hour. Fujimori later unveiled a scale model of the building that was especially built to prepare for the rescue operation, which included the tunnels from adjacent houses used by commandos to enter the building.

On April 22, 1997, a team of 140 Peruvian commandos, assembled into a secret ad-hoc unit given the name Chavin de Huantar (a Peruvian archaeological site famous for its underground passageways), mounted their raid at 1523. 3 charges exploded almost simultaneously in 3 different rooms on the first floor. The first hit in the middle of the room where the soccer game was taking place, killing 3 terrorists immediately. Through the holes created by the blasts, 30 commandos stormed into the building, chasing the surviving MRTA members in order to stop them before they could reach the second floor.

Two other moves were made simultaneously. In the first, 20 commandos launched a direct assault at the front door in order to join their comrades inside the waiting room, where the main staircase to the second floor was located. Behind the first wave storming the door came another group of soldiers carrying ladders, which they placed against the rear walls of the building. In the final prong of the attack, another group of commandos emerged from 2 tunnels that had reached the back yard. These soldiers quickly scaled the ladders that had been placed for them. Their tasks were to blow out a grenade-proof door on the second floor, through which the hostages would be evacuated, and to make two openings in the roof so that they could kill the MRTA members upstairs before they had time to execute the hostages.

At the end, all 14 MRTA members, one hostage (Dr. Carlos Giusti Acuña, a member of the Supreme Court, who had pre-existing heart problems) and two soldiers died in the assault. MRTA member Roli Rojas was discovered attempting to walk out of the residence mixed with the hostages. A commando spotted him, took him to the back of the house, and executed him. Another (female) MRTA member was also executed after the raid. The raid provided a boost to Fujimori’s popularity, but he soon had to face inquiries into the executions.