Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis

Kentucky-Pizza Hut
in Lima, the 
Binational Center
in Trujillo, the Mormon Church in 
Huaraz, the 
Kentucky Fried Chicken
in San Isidro, and the 
Wackenhut
contractor 
company where one guard was killed and two were injured. In addition, a rocket-
propelled grenade (RPG) was launched against the Peruvian Chancery building; three 
separate mortar attacks on different occasions also hit the same building. 
In 1992, four Peruvian Army soldiers are killed during a traffic stop on Túpac 
Amaru Avenue. On April 5,
Fujimori conducts his famous 
auto-golpe, 
giving himself 
unlimited powers; he closes the Congress, takes control of the judiciary powers, puts an 
end to regional governments; he concentrates all government power in his person, and 
begins to govern by decree (Arnson, 1999, p. 213). His total confidence in the armed 
forces and certain measures approved after the coup played a role in accelerating the 
defeat of armed insurgent organizations. On 24 July, MRTA mortar attacks the army 
headquarters and on 9 August, they attack another army convoy in Miraflores. On 11 
September, they kidnap businessperson David Ballón Vera. On September 12,
Abimail 
Guzmán is captured by General Antonio Ketín Vidal, head of Dirección Contra el 
Terrorismo (DINCOTE - National Directorate Against Terrorism). On 10 October, a 
small squad of MRTA rebels launches three mortars at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence.

---

39 
On 17 November, they bomb the Chancery warehouse damaging three cars belonging to 
the U.S. government. On 15 December, they kidnap and assassinate businessperson 
Fernando Manrique Acevedo.
On 16 January of 1993, the MRTA launches an RPG against the 
Binational 
Center
in Miraflores. On 22 January, they fire small arms (three shots) at an 
American 
Airlines
aircraft as it is landing. On 1 February, MRTA kidnaps businessperson Antonio 
Furukawa Obara. On 22 April, they kidnap businessperson Pedro Miyasato Miyasato.
On 7 June, they kidnap Luis Salcedo Marsano. On 9 July, they kidnap Raúl Hiraoka 
Torres. On 23 September, they kidnap businessperson Enrique Uribe Tasayco. This 
same year, Victor Polay Campos and some of his most important lieutenants are 
recaptured at a Chinese restaurant in Lima; meanwhile Néstor Cerpa Cartolini is in 
Bolivia training and recruiting MRTA support, and is being eyed to be the new #1 man in 
the MRTA hierarchy.
In 1994, MRTA members firebomb the 
Wong,
SAGA 
and 
Hiraoka
stores and the 
Más
supermarket in Lima. On 21 April, an MRTA squad ambushes an Army truck, 
killing three soldiers and 15 civilians. On 28 April, MRTA encircles and locks down the 
towns of Chanamayo and Oxapamapa. The next day they intercept and burn four trucks 
on the Satipo highway. On 1 July, they conduct a raid on the town of Alto Cuyani, and 
assassinate the town’s vice-mayor. On 12 July, MRTA ambushes an Army truck killing 
two soldiers. On 26 July, MRTA takes control of the town of Chanchamayo for three 
days. On 22 October, they kidnap the Pichanaki town mayor Pedro Vargas. President 
Fujimori vows to “crush” the MRTA by the end of the year. Although he did not 
succeed, MRTA activity is dramatically reduced. The “Repentance Law”, under which 
the government claims up to 5,000 guerrillas surrendered their weapons, is repealed. 
On 25 January 1995, MRTA members ambush a PNP patrol in Chanchamayo, 
freeing one of its MRTA members. Alberto Fujimori is reelected. On 12 May, MRTA 
hands out copies of their first edition of their pamphlet 
La Voz Rebelde 
(trans. 
The Rebel 
Voice
) in the San Marcos and La Cantuta universities. On 12 June, MRTA ambushes a 
military patrol in the Pichanaki and Chanchamayo districts. On 9 July, a truck full of 
dynamite is set off in the center of the town of Chimbote. In December, an
MRTA group 

---

40 
is arrested as it is preparing to take over the Peruvian Congress; the PNP finds plans, 
maps, and sketches detailing the MRTA’s planned raid. During 1995 however, the group 
does managed to secure a $1 million ransom for a kidnapped Bolivian businessperson.
Among those arrested is Miguel Rincón Rincón, one of the few leaders not yet a prisoner 
and the current #2 man in the MRTA hierarchy; American Lori Berenson
36
; and Nancy 
Gilbonio, wife of Néstor Cerpa Cartolini. Néstor Cerpa managed to escape and 
subsequently lead the takeover of the Japanese Ambassador’s residence in 1997. 
In 1996, the Peruvian authorities claim that the MRTA is a “spent force”. Of the 
group’s leadership, only Néstor Cerpa is out of prison; his wife and brother are among the 
400 or more of the group’s members being detained and funds from criminal activities 
are running short. On 20 January, MRTA conducts a demonstration in the town of 
Tarma. On that same day, they attack the Army base of Oxapampa, in Pasco. During the 
same month, Lori Berenson is sentenced to life imprisonment by a so-called “faceless 
judge” on a charge of treason for having acted in support of the MRTA. In February, 
Cartolini sends a videotape to 
La República
newspaper announcing the MRTA’s 
intention to continue with acts of violence and their planned intentions to release their 
jailed comrades. On 20 March, the MRTA attacks the Pachacútec and Oxapampa Army 
bases. On 3 April, they conduct a raid in the town of Sallique, in the Jaén sector. On 28 
April, MRTA members confront the PNP in San José de Sisa in San Martín. On 6 June, 
the PNP captures MRTA leader Néstor Cerpa in Piura. On 16 June, MRTA conducts 
harassment operations on the San Juan de Cacazu base in Oxapampa. On 9 July, they 
ambush an Army patrol from Pichinaki, in Chanchamayo, Junín. On 10 July, an MRTA 
squad raids the landing zone at the Satipo oil field. On 1 September, they raid the 
Pichinaki base known as Huantintín. Also on that day, MRTA disseminates propaganda 
in Arequipa. The following day they ambush an Army patrol in Junín. On 18 
September, they raid the town of Oxapampa. On 16 October, they disseminate 
propaganda in La Loma sector in Maynas, Loreto. 
36 Lori Berenson, 31, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after a 1996 military verdict found her 
guilty of helping plan and attack Peru's Congress building with MRTA rebels during that same year. She 
recently married a Peruvian citizen that aided the MRTA during the same congress attack. They both fell 
in love while serving time in the Yanomamo prison in Peru.

---

41 
In early October, Néstor Cerpa and several MRTA terrorists rent and occupy a 
house in close proximity to the Japanese Ambassador’s residence. The house located on 
Marconi #225, is directly behind the northeast wall of the residence. MRTA members 
continue to develop and refine a plan for a daring assault on the Japanese residence, 
unbeknownst to anyone in the area. The new MRTA command planning the operation 
was named 
Edgar Sánchez
and was composed of 14 members: Néstor Cerpa Cartolini 
(“Comandante Huerta”) leader of the group, Rolly Rojas (“El Arabe”), Eduardo Cruz 
Sánchez (“Tito”), Salvador, Luz Meléndez Cueva Berta (“Melisa”), Giovanna Vilas 
Plascencia (“Gringa”), Rolando or Dante Córdoba (“El Cuzqueño”), Lucas (“Gato 
Seco”), Alex, “El Mejicano”, Marcos, Leo (“22”), Cone (“Palestino”), Leivi, and Victor 
Huáscar. They secretly accumulated and stashed explosives, automatic weapons, RPGs, 
and disguised a vehicle to look like an ambulance, used as a ruse during their initial entry.
In the meantime, members of the Servicio de Inteligencia (S.I.N. – Intelligence 
Service) had been studying several leads on a possible MRTA attack on one of three 
embassies: Ecuador, U.S., or Japan. They knew the MRTA was planning a big 
operation, but could not pinpoint the actual location. Without any further indicators for 
an impending attack, the security dispatched for the Japanese Ambassador’s party was 
not reinforced.