Peru crisis resonates at home, TH-R 01-10-1997
Friday, January 10, 1997 - The Times Herald Record, p. 8
Peru crisis resonates at home
Relatives can only wait, hope
By MARIE SZANISZLO
Staff Writer
MONTICELLO -- The first word of the crisis trickled. over the morning news a week before Christmas, as Carmen Rue made breakfast for her children.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement had stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, seizing 500 hostages.
Throughout the day, an uneasiness dogged her as she thought of the family she had left behind 27 years earlier in Callao, a city 10 minutes by car from the capitol. But it wasn't until the following day that the former assistant teacher learned she had more than a passing reason to worry.
On a visit from Peru, Rue's nephew revealed that her second cousin, Peruvian Foreign Minister Francisco Tudela, was among the captives -- and the rebels had promised that he would be the first to die.
"I don't know what their will do with the people they have inside," Rue said Wednesday in her modest, ranch style home. "But they have a lot of explosives. And that, I believe."
Nearly a month into the hostage taking, Tudela remains among 74 select captives the rebels have held to keep their bargaining power high. They continue to demand the release of an estimated 300 Tupac Amaru comrades in Peruvian prisons.
"(The terrorists) have done so much damage; to release (the prisoners) would encourage more violence."
- Carmen Rue
On Saturday, the rebels hoisted banners on the rooftop telling President Alberto Fujimori the crisis would not end without dialogue.
But the president reiterated his resolve not to give in to their demands until all the hostages are freed.
It is a gamble, Rue admits. But having seen the devastation leftist guerrillas have wrought on her native country since her emigration, she believes it is a gamble the government has no choice but to take.
"(The terrorists) have done so much damage," said Rue, a petite woman with a slight accent who serves on Monticello's Human Rights Commission. "To release (the prisoners) would encourage more violence."
For the past three weeks, Rue and her husband, Tom, have scoured the Internet for updates on the crisis, managing to compile dozens of articles from both English and Spanish language publications.
By most accounts, Tudela and the other remaining hostages have been treated reasonably well, drawing what little comfort they can from the uneasy routine they have settled into.
In a meeting with reporters late last month, the foreign minister said most of his time was spent reading and thinking about his country and his uncertain fate.
Rue, meanwhile, has had to content herself with whatever pieces of news she has been able to gather while she waits for an end to the crisis, half a world away.
"All we can do," she said, "is hope."
Relative sees cousin carried from embassy, 04-26-1997, Times Herald-Record
