United States Foreign Relations Peru

With the support of Washington, the Peruvian government is fighting to regain control of an Amazon frontier valley rich in coca--the raw material of cocaine--and ruled by millionaire drug bosses and Maoist guerrillas. Three helicopters and a cargo plane chartered by the United States are spearheading the assault by 800 militarized national police against Peru's drug mafia and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas in the jungled Upper Huallaga Valley on the eastern slopes of the Andes.

President Bush arrived Saturday in this tense but heavily fortified capital with his goal of promoting hemispheric trade all but overshadowed by a feared resurgence of terrorism in Peru and by a political attack at home from Democrats who accused him of pandering to Latinos. Shortly before he was accorded a red-carpet, 21-gun-salute welcome by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, authorities downtown used tear gas to disperse dozens of anti-American demonstrators. But back in the U.S.

President Bush urged Peruvian President-elect Alejandro Toledo on Tuesday to take humanitarian concerns into account when deciding whether to intervene in the case of an American woman convicted of collaborating with terrorists. In a brief meeting at the White House, Bush directly addressed the situation of 31-year-old Lori Berenson, who was sentenced last week in Peru to 20 years in prison for assisting the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

A lawyer for imprisoned American Lori Berenson asked Peru's highest appeals court Tuesday to overturn her 20-year prison term for collaborating with rebels in a plot to seize Peru's Congress, saying she was convicted for her leftist ideas. Berenson's defense attorney, Jose Luis Sandoval, made the plea before a five-judge panel of the Supreme Court. Berenson was not present during the hearing. The panel has up to 15 working days to reach a decision, Supreme Court spokesman Andiolo Zevallos said.

The United States and the three Andean nations have agreed on the outlines of an anti-drug plan to be unveiled at next week's summit in Colombia, but the plan may not provide the immediate economic assistance that the South American countries had hoped for, Bush Administration officials said Wednesday. A communique to be signed by President Bush and the Andean leaders would express their common determination to replace cocaine commerce in the region with a legitimate economy.

One U.S. airman was missing and two others injured Friday when a Peruvian military plane fired on a U.S. Air Force transport plane off the coast of Peru. U.S. Ambassador Anthony Quainton contacted Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori about the incident, which occurred at 5:01 p.m. Fujimori "immediately offered apologies and promised an investigation," a U.S. source said.

While two governments struggled over blame in the gunning down of a plane flying American evangelists over the jungles of Peru, the friends and relatives of a slain missionary already had their answer. It was God's will, they said--with the same devout assuredness that led Veronica "Roni" Bowers on her final flight.

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday praised his Andean counterparts for asserting their independence from the United States by resisting U.S. pressure to condemn Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's recent victory in the polls. Chavez, a left-leaning nationalist who led a botched coup attempt in 1992 and was elected president in December 1998, stressed that the U.S. has no business getting involved in Peru's internal affairs.

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, apparently reassured of the support of the United States and the rest of the Western Hemisphere for his beleaguered government, pledged Friday to guarantee "stability and democracy" until elections are held next year. On the second day of a hastily arranged visit to Washington, Fujimori met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger to discuss his plans for a transition of power.

As Ecuador and Peru fight on their border, the United States is catching a shower of verbal flak here. Politicians and pundits of various stripes charge that Washington is not doing enough to stop Peruvian aggression, or that it has been pressuring Ecuador to accept cease-fire terms that would undermine the country's territorial claims. Leading a demonstration this week outside the U.S.

President Bush urged Peruvian President-elect Alejandro Toledo on Tuesday to take humanitarian concerns into account when deciding whether to intervene in the case of an American woman convicted of collaborating with terrorists. In a brief meeting at the White House, Bush directly addressed the situation of 31-year-old Lori Berenson, who was sentenced last week in Peru to 20 years in prison for assisting the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

Anti-drug warriors involved in a U.S.-Peruvian airborne interdiction effort that has slashed the South American nation's cocaine production had a warning for smugglers: "You fly, you die." That warlike motto governed the zone of low-intensity conflict into which a Cessna seaplane carrying U.S. Baptist missionaries flew last week with disastrous results: A Peruvian air force jet assisted by a CIA surveillance plane mistakenly shot down the Cessna, killing a woman and her infant daughter.

While two governments struggled over blame in the gunning down of a plane flying American evangelists over the jungles of Peru, the friends and relatives of a slain missionary already had their answer. It was God's will, they said--with the same devout assuredness that led Veronica "Roni" Bowers on her final flight.

U.S. and Peruvian investigators Saturday were trying to unravel the perplexing circumstances in which an American missionary and her infant daughter died when a Peruvian air force anti-drug plane shot down their Cessna--an incident that also involved a U.S. surveillance aircraft. As part of an anti-drug program in which U.S. aircraft help interdict smuggling flights, an unarmed U.S.

The raiders struck before dawn, 10 well-armed agents of the Peruvian intelligence service descending on a house here. The target was not a terrorists' hide-out. It was a secret "intelligence house" operated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with approval of the Peruvian government. The military judge leading the raid threatened to arrest the U.S.-trained Peruvian police officers inside who were using high-tech equipment to intercept communications by drug traffickers.

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, apparently reassured of the support of the United States and the rest of the Western Hemisphere for his beleaguered government, pledged Friday to guarantee "stability and democracy" until elections are held next year. On the second day of a hastily arranged visit to Washington, Fujimori met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger to discuss his plans for a transition of power.

President Alan Garcia said Friday he will attend the Feb. 15 anti-drug summit with President Bush in Colombia, reversing his decision to boycott the meeting. Garcia said he decided to go after Bush announced his intention Wednesday to withdraw by the end of the month troops sent to Panama to remove Gen. Manual A. Noriega from power in December. Garcia had pulled out of the meeting after the troops landed, saying, "I cannot meet with the leader of an invading nation."

President Bush has announced that he will nominate Anthony Cecil Eden Quainton as U.S. ambassador to Peru. Quainton, 55, is deputy inspector general at the State Department and was U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua from 1982 to 1984.

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori took a hastily arranged trip to Washington on Thursday to appeal for international support for his troubled regime and his plan to remain in office until new elections are held next year. With rumors of a planned military coup swirling in Lima, Peru's capital, Fujimori conferred with Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States. He was scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today. After months of ignoring U.S.

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday praised his Andean counterparts for asserting their independence from the United States by resisting U.S. pressure to condemn Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's recent victory in the polls. Chavez, a left-leaning nationalist who led a botched coup attempt in 1992 and was elected president in December 1998, stressed that the U.S. has no business getting involved in Peru's internal affairs.