** See list of useful Web sites at end of this post! ** Companer@s, I am writing this while I am tired and should be asleep, since I think that this matter is too urgent to delay. I apologize for any careless formulations. By now, you all know that the Peruvian guerrilla group MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru) has occupied the mansion of the Japanese ambassador in Lima and is holding several hundred prisoners. Unless you are in an unusual part of the world, you also have seen how the bourgeois media are discussing the matter as a problem of how to deal with 'terrorists.' For the working people and all the oppressed and exploited of the world, and for socialists, communists, and anarchists, the seizure of the ambassador's residence along with about 400 bourgeois dinner guests is a great accomplishment. It is a blow against the terrorism of the Peruvian state and its imperialist patrons! Those captured in the raid include many members of the Peruvian and international ruling elite, including the head of Peru's secret police! It will be politically very difficult for the Peruvian state to launch a military attack as a means of resolving the crisis, since that would create quite a few 'illustrious corpses' and lead to a falling out among bourgeois sectors.. (And it would be difficult to get the world's poor majority to join the bourgeoisie in mourning its dead!) It seems that there is already a falling out between Fujimori and the Japanese over Fujimori's refusal, so far, to negotiate. It is very important that the situation in Lima not be resolved in a way that can be seen as a victory for the bourgeoisie. It is our task to publicize who the real criminals are in Peru and to help wring concessions from the Peruvian dictatorship. In particular, we should demand the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of war from Peru's hideous torture-chamber prisons. In this context, let's not get involved in sectarian battles among the various factions of Peru's anti-government left. Whatever differences the groups have, and these are very serious, we must keep in mind that the Peruvian state and its imperialist backers (in Washington, Tokyo, London, Bonn, etc.) are the main enemy. All political prisoners must be released, whether of MRTA, the PCP (Shining Path) or neither. Thanks to the widespread publicity given to the events in Lima, many more people will be interested in what we have to say about Peru than normally would. Let's organize demonstrations at Peruvian Embassies, Consulates, airline offices, etc. Let's raise our voices in whatever forum may be available to defend the heroic guerrillas and to denounce the real terrorists. --In solidarity, --Aaron <aaron@burn.ucsd.edu> P.S. Plans are being made for a demonstration at the Peruvian Consulate in San Francisco, California -- probably on Monday, December 23. If you live in the area, please send me an e-mail message. Otherwise, do what you can in your area! SOME USEFUL WEB SITES: Web site on the current crisis: <http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats/mrta.htm> What Are The Goals Of Your Embassy Occupation? -- Interview With Norma Velazco, Representative Of The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) In Peru: <http://burn.ucsd.edu/~archive/ats-l/1996.Dec/0089.html> Partial list of hostages: <http://burn.ucsd.edu/~archive/ats-l/1996.Dec/0092.html> MRTA's web site in Europe: <http://www.cybercity.dk/users/ccc17427/> Lima's best bourgeois newspaper (in Spanish): http://ekeko.rcp.net.pe/LaRepublica/