Peru Rebels Not Likely to Back Off, Experts Say

LIMA, Peru —  Even as 225 freed hostages--including seven Americans--spent Monday celebrating their release, experts cautioned that Peruvian terrorists holding scores of other VIPs in a diplomatic residence here didn’t appear likely to give up soon.

But several of the released hostages also expressed optimism that negotiations would eventually resolve the standoff.

“Nonofficial [talks] are going on,” said Kris Merchrod, an aid worker from Connecticut who was released with the group late Sunday after five days of captivity. “What you see in the press, and on TV, is the public posturing. That has some importance, of course, but it’s posturing. The real negotiation goes on informally in this case.”

Merchrod and six U.S. diplomats were among 500 or so guests attending a posh cocktail party at the Japanese ambassador’s residence last Tuesday when a band of heavily armed rebels stormed the compound. The guerrillas still hold about 140 people.

The freed U.S. diplomats were in such good shape Monday that most turned up for work. Colleagues reported seeing several eating with their families in the U.S. Embassy cafeteria. The embassy declined to allow any contact with the diplomats.

But Merchrod said in a telephone conversation from home that the guerrillas treated their hostages well. A Canadian trapped with the Americans said the diplomats maintained good morale--even though the hostages were forced to sleep on the floor and use stinking toilets with no water.

“They were treated equally” to the other hostages, said Andre Deschenes, the freed Canadian. One good-spirited American, he said, “was an example to us because he taught me how to sleep standing up.”

The Americans included economic, political and narcotics officers from the embassy, as well as four employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a Peruvian employee of the embassy, U.S. officials said.

They and the other 218 hostages were freed as a “Christmas gesture,” Nestor Cerpa Cartolini, the leader of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, said in a statement from the besieged compound Sunday night.

But the rebel leader declared he would hold his other prisoners until the government met his demands. The still-trapped captives are an elite group and include Peruvian Cabinet members, senior police officials and even President Alberto Fujimori’s brother, Pedro.

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Fujimori, thus far, has flatly rejected the rebels’ demands for wide-ranging peace talks and freedom for jailed fellow guerrillas.

Terrorism experts warned Monday that the mass release of hostages appeared to be a gesture by the rebels toward the government and public opinion--but not a sign of weakness.

“This is part of a strategy to force negotiations,” Jaime Antesana, an expert at a Lima think tank, said of the rebels and their actions. “They’re not going to give up, they’re not going to abort their plan. They have two [Cabinet] ministers, congressmen, the ambassador of Japan [as hostages]. They have a great advantage over the state.”

Sunday night’s hostage release was not a surprise. Cerpa, the rebel chief, had indicated a day earlier that captives not related to the Peruvian government would be freed. And several experts had speculated that the rebels would release hostages simply because they were overwhelmed by having to guard so many captives.

“The fact that they’ve released two-thirds of the hostages means in effect that they’ve pared it down to a number they can control,” Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said in Tokyo. “To that extent, the tension has increased.”

The newly freed hostages described Cerpa and his young rebels as hard-core guerrillas who meticulously planned the attack and seemed prepared for drawn-out negotiations.

But they also said the terrorists were aiming at a negotiated solution to the standoff. “I think they are committed to finding a solution. They also want to come out of there alive,” Deschenes said at a news conference. “That’s why I’m confident.”

Hubert Zandstra, another freed Canadian hostage, said the rebels had a “cautious but positive reaction” to a speech by Fujimori on Saturday night. The Peruvian president, in his only public remarks on the crisis, rejected the rebels’ demands but said a solution could be worked out if they freed their captives.

Merchrod, the American, said the rebels were getting advice from some of their captives who had negotiating experience. He declined to identify them.

“There are people within the embassy [residence] who had the necessary background to do this sort of thing, they had experience before,” said the aid worker. “The rebels know who they are now, and I think it [a negotiated solution] will happen. How quickly, I don’t know.”

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Besides senior Peruvian officials, the 140 hostages still in the residence include Japanese business executives and the ambassadors of Malaysia, Bolivia, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Japan, freed hostages said.

In recent days, water, telephones and electricity in the compound have been cut off, apparently by the government. But the freed hostages said the rebels were not concerned at the lack of services.

While governments around the world expressed relief Monday that many hostages had been freed, there were continued expressions of concern for those who remain. In Japan, Emperor Akihito called off traditional celebrations for his birthday because of the 40 or so Japanese still held by the Peruvian rebels. In a statement, the emperor said: “I ardently hope that everything will be brought under control and that all of the hostages will be released without harm as soon as possible.”

In Washington, the Clinton administration renewed its offer of assistance to the Peruvian government, insisting that the United States will not lose interest in the crisis even though the American hostages have been released.

At the same time, the administration ordered a general upgrade of security precautions at U.S. diplomatic missions in Latin America and elsewhere.

“We continually review the security provisions that we have at embassies abroad,” said State Department spokesman Glyn Davies. “This incident has caused us to redouble that review.” Asked if more measures had already been taken, he said: “Absolutely.”

When the hostage crisis began last week, the U.S. government said it was ready to send counter-terrorism experts, police advisors or other assistance that the Fujimori government might request. Although no requests have been received, Davies said the offer still stands.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said in a written statement: “The United States expresses its great appreciation to the government of President Alberto Fujimori for the support and consideration given to the Americans who were held, to their families, and to the entire American community in Peru. The United States will continue its close consultations with Peru, Japan, and all concerned governments on this situation.”

Davies praised the Peruvian government for its handling of the crisis.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster in Washington contributed to this report.