The Tactic of the Christmas Gifts

As they continue releasing hostages, the MRTA command led by Néstor Cerpa Cartolini — alias Hemigilio Huertas — which stormed the residence of Japanese Ambassador Morihisa Aoki nine days ago, can appear as a revolutionary group with a twisted Christmas spirit. But few people at this stage still believe in Santa Claus. The release of cabinet ministers, military officers, police, members of Congress, religious figures, and high-level Peruvian and foreign businesspeople still held captive inside the diplomatic compound will now depend not so much on the simple need to ease the Malthusian crisis inside the building, but on the Peruvian state's ability to bring the terrorists to heel through a political strategy in which the use of force has not been ruled out. Published December 26, 1996.