Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2000
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2000 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  143 S Main, Salt Lake City UT 84111
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Author: Tod Robberson, Knight Ridder News Service

PERU'S COUP RUMORS SUSPECTED AS RUSE

LIMA, Peru -- Like most of the murky details surrounding the conduct of 
Peru's leadership in recent days, it may never be known whether President 
Alberto Fujimori actually faced ouster by military coup last week, as has 
been widely reported.

But what appears certain, diplomats and former senior military officers 
say, is that many of Peru's darkest secrets were on the verge of being 
revealed after Fujimori's closest former adviser fled the country Sept. 24 
in the wake of a scandal.

The military leadership had many reasons to make sure those secrets were 
not revealed and was willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their 
interests, the former military officers said.

These sources described senior officers immersed in corrupt practices and 
abuses of power. There are allegations of personal enrichment on military 
contracts, a huge arms-smuggling ring, military-supported drug-trafficking 
networks, and other activities that undermined the $1.3 billion war on 
drugs in Colombia waged by the United States.

Peru, located on Colombia's porous southern border, is a key player in U.S. 
efforts to stem the flow of cocaine and heroin from the region. But at 
least three army generals and numerous junior officers have been convicted 
and imprisoned in recent years for colluding with drug traffickers.

Diplomats suspect the corruption is far more widespread. "It's the people 
who have been involved in the dirty things -- corruption, drug trafficking, 
human rights violations," who are behind the talk of a coup, said a Western 
diplomat. "They're in a tough spot right now."

The military and civilian court systems have a long history of acquitting 
senior military officers allied with the president. In the cases of the 
generals convicted of drug-related offenses, at least two were released by 
military decree after serving short prison sentences.

According to these sources, the man who had the goods on everyone, 
Vladimiro Montesinos, Fujimori's closest adviser and former chief of 
national intelligence, fled to Panama on Sept. 24, where he currently is 
seeking political asylum.

A week before his departure, Montesinos was shown on videotape handing over 
a $15,000 bribe to a newly elected opposition congressman.

The scandal prompted Fujimori to announce plans to quit as soon as the 
country can elect a new president. Elections are tentatively set for March 
or April.

The government is dismantling the much-feared National Intelligence 
Service, or SIN, which Montesinos ran. The SIN, created in 1990, cooperated 
with the military high command and used military personnel to spy on 
civilians and politicians.

Montesinos used his position within the SIN to obtain promotions for loyal 
generals, including his brother-in-law, while arranging for the ouster of 
those who were uncooperative, according to former intelligence and military 
officials.

Bribery and other forms of corruption were key to ensuring loyalty, and 
Montesinos was meticulous in videotaping military and civilian officials 
engaged in compromising activities, the sources said.

The Montesinos scandal has caused Peru to sink into its most severe 
political crisis in decades. The crisis reached fever pitch last week when 
a congressman said he had been asked by the military command to participate 
in a coup plot.

The military command publicly voiced its support for Fujimori shortly after 
the Montesinos scandal erupted. The army's information office last week 
insisted the coup allegations were "absolutely false."

Nevertheless, something urgent apparently prompted Fujimori to board a 
plane at 2 a.m. on Sept. 28 and fly to Washington with little warning, 
forcing Clinton administration officials to arrange hasty meetings with 
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger, the White House 
national security adviser.

Fujimori returned to Peru on Monday. He obtained cautious support from the 
Clinton administration, stressing the importance of completing a democratic 
transition and emphasizing the need for Fujimori to make good on his pledge 
to leave office after calling new elections.

A former SIN official said the coup rumor appeared to have been a ruse by 
the military command and SIN. The official said SIN typically spread coup 
rumors and planted news reports of "terrorist threats" when it appeared 
that Fujimori's and Montesinos's power faced serious challenge.

"Terrorism never really existed in this country," the former SIN official 
said. He said such activity may have been employed by the SIN to ensure 
that Montesinos would receive political asylum outside Peru, so he would 
never have to face trial in his own country.

"The day that man talks is the day all of the secrets come out," the former 
SIN official said of Montesinos.
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