It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in a South American country and hold dozens of people hostage for more than four months. Indeed, the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis inspired the 2001 best-selling novel Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
The real-life crisis began on December 17, 1996 in Lima, when 14 members of the Túpac 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 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 birthday. While most of the hostages – including all the Americans — were soon released, 72 were held hostage for 126 days, until they were rescued on April 22, 1997, during a raid by Peruvian Armed Forces commandos. The commandos entered the residence by digging holes under the floor, detonating explosives and rushing into the building. One hostage, two commandos, and all the MRTA militants were killed. The operation gained worldwide media attention and for the time being, boosted President Alberto Fujimori’s popularity.
James F. Mack was assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Lima. He discusses the attack on the residence and the fate of American Lori Berenson, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for collaborating with MRTA. During her 1996 trial, Berenson was said to have been denied the right to examine the government’s evidence and witnesses. The case sparked controversy across the United States and led to the creation of the Free Lori Movement. She has been tried twice and is currently on parole in Peru until her prison sentence ends in 2015. Mack was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in March 20, 2004.
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