Zero Hour (2004–…): Season 3, Episode 4 - The Lima Siege - full transcript

(NARRATOR READING)

NARRATOR: April 22, 1997. Lima, Peru.

Peruvian Special Forces prepare to
storm the Japanese Ambassador's residence.

At stake, the lives of 72 men held hostage

by a revolutionary guerrilla movement.

A deadly game is in play
for the lives of the hostages.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

On one side is a desperate man
willing to kill for the woman he loves.

His adversary, a ruthless
and corrupt political czar.

And at the heart of the siege,

the man who risks his
own life to become a hero.



(SPEAKING SPANISH)

(ALL SINGING IN SPANISH)

NARRATOR: 2:25 p.m.

April 22, 1997.

This is the story of the last hour

of the last day

of a siege that lasted four months.

In December 1996,

the Japanese Ambassador to Peru

hosted a pre-Christmas
cocktail party for Lima's elite.

Among the 600 guests,

was British journalist, Sally Bowen.

SALLY BOWEN: We were talking around

the idea of whether Peru was
now really a near liberal paradise,



or whether there could be
remnants of terrorism still around,

when suddenly there was a loud bang.

(EXPLOSION)

I think all came to more or
less the same conclusion,

that it was probably a... A small
car bomb maybe in the street.

(GUNSHOTS FIRING)

Until suddenly the firing started.

(GUNSHOTS CONTINUE)

Uh, I remember just
trying to imagine what...

What it would feel like
when the bullet hit flesh.

(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: Amazingly,
about a dozen guerrillas took 600

of Peru's most powerful people
hostage in a matter of moments.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Two of the guerrillas were teenage girls.

They were also explosive experts.

That night they mined the doors.

The hostages were
sealed in the guerrillas' trap.

(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

I managed to get a sort of sideways look

and, um, I could see three
guerrillas in, um, black knitted

hoods over their heads.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The leader of the
guerrillas is Nestor Cerpa Cartolini.

A former labor leader whose
desperate act is driven by Marxist beliefs

and love.

His wife is a political prisoner in Peru

and he wants to exchange
his hostages for her release.

The Tupac Amaru
Revolutionary Movement or MRTA

has a deadly history

of kidnapping and killing their hostages.

This Tupac Amaru video shows
the guerrillas hid in an ambulance,

drove to the back of the Japanese Ambassador's
garden and blew a hole in the wall.

They seized the building in minutes.

The fact that 14 guerrillas could take over

a heavily guarded embassy,

uh, residence, where
there were about 600 guests,

is really nothing short of extraordinary.

NARRATOR: Cerpa was shrewd.

He knew his small gang of 14
couldn't control 600 hostages,

but he had some of Peru's most
important people in his hands,

including the Foreign Minister.

He would be one of Cerpa's
main bargaining chips.

Cerpa released his less
prestigious prisoners.

The waiters, maids and cooks.

One military hostage made a run for it.

The Tupac Amaru next
released all the women.

Before journalist Sally Bowen left,

she managed to get an
interview with the guerrillas' leader.

I asked him what his
objectives in the action were.

He wanted to gain the
release of MRTA prisoners,

who he considered to be prisoners of war.

He said that the prison
conditions were inhumane.

Um, he said, for example,

that children of somebody who
was imprisoned on a terrorist charge

were never allowed to touch their parent.

So he said,

"This is what terrorism does.

"Terrorism is self-sustaining

"because it breeds hatred.

"You'll breed hatred in the children,

"against the system that treats
their parents so inhumanely."

When I said goodbye to the
people I knew, I said, "Don't worry.

"I'm sure you'll all be
out of here tomorrow."

I mean, I could not have been more wrong.

NARRATOR: Peruvian
President Alberto Fujimori

refused to give in to
the guerrillas' demands.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: Over the weeks that followed,

Nestor Cerpa released
hundreds more hostages

in the hope of concessions
from the President.

But he got none.

In January 1997, he dug in his heels.

Cerpa announced that no more
hostages would be released.

Seventy-two remained in captivity.

Cerpa ordered them held on the main floor
of the Japanese Ambassador's residency.

Makeshift mattresses and blankets
formed their sleeping quarters.

The Peruvian government
had shut off all power and water.

Hostages and guerrillas alike
had little food or drinking water,

and no toilets.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

One hostage was offered
his freedom, but refused.

Jesuit Father, Juan Julio Wicht,

had a clear message
for the guerrilla leader.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Mr. Cerpa,
I am a Catholic priest.

I will remain here until
the last hostage has left.

I stay for solidarity
and for moral support.

NARRATOR: At 2:32 p.m. on April 22...

-(PHONE RINGS) -...the one man
ruthless enough to destroy Cerpa

prepares to launch his deadly attack.

One he has been planning for months.

Vladimiro Montesinos is Peru's
Supreme Head of Intelligence.

The President has secretly ordered
him to plan an armed rescue attempt.

Montesinos is a very ruthless man.

He's very calculating.
Can be chillingly cold.

Montesinos had really

got control of virtually every element

that was important in Peruvian life.

NARRATOR: Montesinos has
earned his reputation as a brilliant

but brutal political boss.

A man who has risen to
power through cunning and fear.

He is one of President
Fujimori's most trusted aides.

In public, Fujimori promised
to talk with Tupac Amaru.

In private, he had given Montesinos
authority to wipe the guerrillas out

by whatever means necessary,
without killing the hostages.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

His plan,

to build tunnels directly below the
Japanese Ambassador's residence,

to launch surprise commando attacks,

and to place a massive explosive

directly under the Tupac Amaru's
headquarters in the ballroom.

The problem is,

some of the hostages could be
blown to bits along with the terrorists.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Cerpa has threatened to kill the
hostages if his demands are not met.

What he does not know is that
Montesinos has a secret weapon.

One of the hostages, codenamed "the Sea,"

has a direct line of
communication with Montesinos.

The fate of the 72
hostages lies in his hands.

(WHISPERING IN SPANISH)

NARRATOR: 16 minutes has passed

in the final hour of a hostage siege

that has made headlines around the world.

For four months, 72 men
have been held hostage

in the Japanese Ambassador's
residence in Lima, Peru.

Mid-afternoon, as part of their
prison-like routine, they sleep,

not knowing when death may come.

The 14 Tupac Amaru guerrillas
and their leader, Nestor Cerpa,

have slipped into their own routine.

Lunch courtesy of the Red Cross,

and football matches in
the Japanese ballroom.

One of the hostages is not sleeping.

He is Admiral Luis Giampietri.

A career military man and
counter-terrorism expert.

He was a founder member
of Peru's Special Forces.

For the four month siege, he has
been muttering away over his Bible.

The young guerrillas
think he's gone slightly mad.

What they don't know is that
his Bible hides a transmitter,

allowing him direct communication

with Intelligence Chief
Vladimiro Montesinos.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Giampietri's transmitter was smuggled
into the Japanese Ambassador's house

in a Red Cross supply package.

He also has found a pager so that
Montesinos can silently respond.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Being a military man,
I never considered myself a hostage.

I was a prisoner of war.

NARRATOR: Montesinos saw his opportunity

when the Red Cross gained
access to the hostages.

The Red Cross was
allowed inside the embassy

to deliver food, water and medicine.

Unbeknown to them,

the government had hidden
microphones among the deliveries.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Microphones
came in inside thermos flasks,

in brooms, in boxes of fruit.

Even in portable toilets
and religious articles.

Picture frames.

Anywhere they could put a tiny microphone.

NARRATOR: In all, 800
microphones were hidden

in strategic positions around the building.

Letting Montesinos overhear
every word that was spoken.

Giampietri needed to find a
way to receive messages from

the Special Forces
commandos in the tunnels below.

One of the hostages had
managed to hide a pager in his pants.

(GIAMPIETRI SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: He
approached me saying, "Admiral,

"they took our beepers
and our cell phones."

But he'd been able to
hide a beeper in his crotch.

NARRATOR: Giampietri's
task is to signal to Montesinos

when Peruvian Special Forces should attack.

With maximum damage to the terrorists

and minimum loss of life to the hostages.

-(PHONES RINGS) -The troops
have been waiting since dawn,

the previous day.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: For months,

Vladimiro Montesinos has
prepared for this day and this hour.

Montesinos was a master of diversion.

He distracted Cerpa
with a fake military attack.

He blasted music at the building to
cover the sound of digging in the tunnels.

Thirty coalminers from the Andes Mountains

were hired to dig tunnels running
under the Ambassador's residence.

To be used for the military assault.

They worked 24 hours a day,
3 meters below the ground.

Every night, ambulances passed by
the back of the Ambassador's residence,

as if part of a standby medical team.

In fact, they were Montesinos' men taking
away tons of earth coming out of the tunnels.

Montesinos had a particular characteristic.

Um, he would never
let an opportunity go by.

And he... He also has, um,

a great ability to create smokescreens,

to use diversionary
and distraction tactics.

NARRATOR: For Giampietri,
it is not a moment too soon.

His fellow hostages are
almost at breaking point.

Most of them have been kept in the dark,

as the slightest wrong move
could ruin the rescue plan.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: We were so
desperate that it was getting dangerous.

I felt the same way.

Some people weren't sleeping.

Some cried at night.

At any moment someone could lose control.

One wanted to use the string of
my guitar to strangle the terrorists.

NARRATOR: Downstairs, time is
also wearing on Cerpa's young guerrillas.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Cerpa has used regular football
matches to shake off the tedium.

But kicking a makeshift ball
around is hardly morale-inspiring.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Today's game could be the moment
Giampietri has been waiting for.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: Over the weeks
of inactivity and stalemate,

Nestor Cerpa's lack of
leadership skills and experience

have become increasingly
obvious to his troops.

BOWEN: Nestor Cerpa started as a...

As a worker and rose to
become a union leader.

And he had a very traumatic
experience with a strike

that he was involved in, in 1979.

When the police intervened,
um, seven of his comrades were

um, were shot.

Cerpa joined the MRTA, which
was a sort of classic left-wing, um,

Latin American guerrilla group.

Very much along the Che Guevara line.

The MRTA, um, started off
robbing banks to get money.

They did a number of
Robin Hood type activities.

NARRATOR: By 1997, the Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement

had been defeated.

Over 600 were in jail.

Cerpa's aim was to free his comrades
and re-launch their Marxist cause.

At the beginning of the siege,

Cerpa offered to free
the hostages in exchange

for the release of 465
Tupac Amaru guerrillas.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Over the months, that
demand fell to just 20.

One name always topped the list.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

BOWEN: Right to the end,
um, Cerpa insisted on freedom

for Nancy Gilvonio, his common-law wife.

I think for Cerpa, Nancy Gilvonio

was an absolutely key piece.

I don't think he was going to leave the
embassy without some assurance that

Nancy was going to be freed.

NARRATOR: Cerpa had
written a letter to his young son.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: My dear little one, if
one day I leave this Japanese residence,

it will be because I have found
what you are hoping and dreaming of.

Having your mother out of prison,

coming home to see her,
to touch her, to play with her,

to be in her arms.

If you write to your mother,
tell her I love her more than ever.

I love you. Your dad.

NARRATOR: Driven by
political belief, ignited by love,

Cerpa's act was that
of a desperate idealist.

But more than three months
of negotiation had led nowhere.

Cuban President Fidel Castro had
offered Cerpa and his comrades asylum

if they agreed to release the hostages.

Now Cerpa was ready to capitulate.

Cerpa called a meeting.

A microphone hidden on the coffee carafe
transmitted every word to Montesinos.

(CERPA SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The guerrillas were split.

The hard line was now in charge.

When Montesinos heard this, the final
plans for an attack were set in motion.

On April 21st, the day before the end,

senior negotiator Archbishop Cipriani,

went to President Fujimori and
asked him just to release Cerpa's wife.

Fujimori refused.

The military option
was now the only option.

The strain was telling on the young
and inexperienced revolutionaries.

In desperation, one turned to Father Wicht.

(FATHER WICHT SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: I saw one of the
girls was looking out the window.

When she turned around,
she had tears in her eyes.

I asked her what was wrong.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

(FATHER WICHT SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Little
by little, they understood

that we were peaceful people.

Good people.

And little by little, we all became closer,

which worried Cerpa.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

(MALE GUERRILLA SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: She composed herself,

suddenly went back to being
a soldier and walked away.

NARRATOR: 20 minutes have passed

since Montesinos put
his attack plan in motion.

Now, the commandos are ready.

The commandos trained for months
in a full-scale replica of the building.

Memorizing each
hostage and terrorist's face,

so when the time came
they could tell friend from foe.

Three separate tunnels provide
commandos with surprise attack positions.

From the front.

(EXPLOSIONS)

Rear.

(EXPLOSION)

And side of the building.

A fourth tunnel leads under the
ballroom, where the explosives are set.

The first blast is designed to kill everyone
in the ballroom on the ground floor.

Ironically, this is where Tupac Amaru
had originally been holding the hostages.

But an unexpected and
rash decision by Cerpa

had played into the government's hands.

President Fujimori had told the world

that he would handle the
Tupac Amaru guerrilla takeover

with negotiation and diplomacy.

He met with the US President Bill Clinton
and Japanese Prime Minister in Toronto,

promising to bring an end to
the siege without bloodshed.

So when Cerpa heard the tunnels being dug,

he realized he had been
tricked by President Fujimori.

(MUFFLED THUDDING)

An angry Cerpa faced the press.

(CERPA SPEAKING SPANISH)

Cerpa furiously attacked the government

and, uh, again made threats
that the hostages would be killed.

NARRATOR: TV crews beamed
the story around the world.

The safety of the hostages
was now on a knife edge.

But Cerpa's next action
was a gift for Montesinos.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: They sent
us all to the second floor.

That's the measure he took.

We were all put together
on the second floor.

NARRATOR: Cerpa sent the hostages upstairs

and grouped his guerrillas
downstairs in the ballroom,

so that they could confront the
commandos if they stormed the building.

It was a decision that would
determine who would live

and who would die.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The guerrillas are
playing directly above the tunnel

packed with explosives.

Giampietri signals Montesinos to stand by.

But before launching the attack,

Giampietri must check
that none of the guerrillas

are close enough to
the hostages to kill them.

Upstairs, in the next room, these
hostages know nothing of the coming attack.

Unwittingly Father Wicht
invites one of the guerrillas

to join him in a game of chess.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

After four months, few of the
hostages expect a rescue attempt.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Or, for that matter, to live.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

On the ground floor, in the ballroom,

the Tupac Amaru rebels are
distracted by the football match

and their own infighting.

On the floor above, Giampietri waits for
an opportune moment to signal the attack.

But still, there are too many
guerrillas close to the hostages.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: The problem was that Mr. Agura
was playing cards with the terrorists.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: If the rescue goes
ahead while armed guerrillas are upstairs,

they could slaughter scores of captives

before the Peruvian Special
Forces can get to them.

Less than half-an-hour remains in a drama
that has stretched out across four months.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Most of the Tupac Amaru
guerrillas play football

in the ballroom of the Japanese
Ambassador's residence.

Upstairs are 72 hostages.

Peruvian Special Forces have hidden
for a day and a half in tunnels below.

Waiting for the order to strike.

But government agent Admiral
Luis Giampietri has a problem.

There are too many guerrillas guarding
the hostages for the rescue to succeed.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Then guerrilla leader Nestor Cerpa,

sends a message to the guards upstairs
to come down and join the football.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

For the sake of a game of football,
Cerpa has made a fatal mistake.

The only remaining guerrilla stands
upstairs exposed by the large window.

An easy target for snipers deployed
on the roofs overlooking the residence.

Montesinos' violent assault is primed.

No plan is foolproof.

But Montesinos has covered
every base with admirable cunning.

Publicly, Montesinos had gone
through the motions of negotiation.

But it was all a bluff.

The fruitless talks were
simply to buy him more time.

Cerpa had allowed Japanese and
other journalists into the embassy.

The Tupac Amaru showed off their
weapons and their prized captives.

Cerpa announced the Peruvian
Foreign Minister Francisco Tudela

would be the first to be executed
if there was a rescue attempt.

What Cerpa didn't know was

that some of the journalists were
actually Montesinos' secret agents.

Gathering detailed video
information for an attack.

The Intelligence Chief
also needed to be sure

that the guerrillas had not mined
the ground outside the building.

He had ordered hundreds
of rats released all around

the Japanese Ambassador's
residence as mine detectors.

No mines exploded.

Montesinos now knew that he could
launch a coordinated attack above ground

as well as below.

Giampietri tells Montesinos
to seize the moment.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

During the siege Admiral
Giampietri has only trusted a few men.

Now the time has come to tell the
other hostages about the rescue attempt.

Amongst them, Peru's Foreign
Minister Francisco Tudela,

the Tupac Amaru's prized hostage.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: The idea was
that only a few of us would know,

so that no one could disagree and stop us.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: I told them to open the door.

They looked at me. You're
crazy. They're coming for us?

(FATHER WICHT SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: There had been
sarcastic jokes about being rescued.

So when I heard we would
be freed, I thought it was a joke.

(WHISPERING IN SPANISH)

NARRATOR: For four months,
Father Wicht has preached nonviolence.

If he helps Giampietri,

Father Wicht knows many may
die, including possibly himself.

Now, the Jesuit peace-maker
must decide which way to jump.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: It was a terrible test,

but we decided to resist.

NARRATOR: Father Wicht makes his decision.

He helps move the table which
is blocking their escape route.

The commandos' plan is to free the
hostages through these terrace doors.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The night before,
Giampietri wrote to his family.

He knew that if the building was
attacked, the Tupac Amaru would kill.

And as a senior military man, he
would be one of the first to be shot.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: I wrote my will
and final farewell to my family.

There was a huge internal struggle.

Literally, "To be or not to be."

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: We were all very
conscious that the Peruvian state

could not give in to terrorism.

But at the same time,
we all wanted to live.

It was particularly difficult knowing
that if there was a military attack,

at least 40% of us would die.

NARRATOR: Only a few
precious minutes remain

before the football game is over.

And the chance to
free the hostages is lost.

(DOOR LATCH CREAKING)

(RADIO MUSIC TURNED UP)

After four months, the bolts on
the terrace doors have rusted shut.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: So we tried
to open the door just a little,

because we were afraid that the door
could be booby-trapped on the outside.

NARRATOR: The door opens safely.

Word of the rescue plan
spreads among the hostages.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The radio is switched off.

This is the pre-arranged signal
for the hostages to take cover.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: They each
looked for a place to hide.

We had a task force ready to
put everyone into the rooms.

NARRATOR: Some of
the hostages are Japanese.

One doesn't understand Spanish.

TRANSLATOR: One of us
grabbed him and put him in a room.

NARRATOR: The window
of time is closing fast.

Montesinos still needs President
Fujimori to green-light the attack.

But at this vital moment,
he can't reach the President,

who's dealing with his
own personal problems.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

Montesinos called Fujimori.

Fujimori was in the Palace of Justice,

um, doing some routine
procedure about his divorce.

And, uh, the assistant who
answered Fujimori's mobile phone

didn't want to pass Montesinos through.

So Montesinos ended up yelling

at the assistant on the phone in
order to get put through to Fujimori,

so that Fujimori could
give the order to go in.

NARRATOR: The conversation
between Intelligence Chief Montesinos

and President Fujimori was recorded.

(FUJIMORI SPEAKING SPANISH)

(MONTESINOS SPEAKING SPANISH)

(FUJIMORI SPEAKING SPANISH)

(MONTESINOS SPEAKING SPANISH)

(FUJIMORI SPEAKING SPANISH)

(MONTESINOS SPEAKING SPANISH)

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: After 32 hours of waiting,

the commandos are on edge.

(SHOUTING IN SPANISH)

It's now up to Giampietri
to give the code to attack.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: When I said that, it
meant that everyone was in the rooms.

The hall was clear.

The terrorists were downstairs
and the doors were open.

NARRATOR: Father Wicht takes
refuge against the wall and prays.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: But just as the countdown begins,

things go horribly wrong.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: A helicopter
almost wrecked the operation.

I don't know why it was flying
over the building just then,

but the MRTA stopped playing football.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The commando leader
has to make a split second decision.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: The explosives fail to ignite.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: When the officer
in the tunnel tried the first explosion,

nothing happened.

But they had back-ups for everything.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

NARRATOR: A car battery provides
a quick, low-tech backup plan.

(CAR ALARM RINGING)

Six terrorists are killed instantly.

And one, Cerpa's right
hand man, Tito, lays dying.

Cerpa and seven others run
upstairs, determined to kill the hostages.

One hundred and forty commandos
storm the building from all directions.

The Tupac Amaru face overwhelming odds.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: It was a massive attack.

Everybody came in from
10 different places at once.

NARRATOR: The commandos
must get to the hostages

before the guerrillas can kill them.

The microphone in Admiral
Giampietri's Bible records the battle.

Nestor Cerpa is gunned down on the
staircase trying to make it to the hostages.

The man who led the
Tupac Amaru's daring plan

now lies dying in a pool of his own blood.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: We always knew if
there was an attack and they survived,

they would come and kill us.
And that's exactly what happened.

(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

I saw the terrorist meant for us
come in to my room with my own eyes.

He was looking for their
prime target. Tudela.

NARRATOR: A commando takes the bullet

meant for the Foreign
Minister, Francisco Tudela.

Tudela escapes, injured, but alive.

The commandos gain the upper
hand, moving from room to room.

Many of the hostages including
Father Wicht are trapped by the crossfire.

(FATHER WICHT SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: I thought it
was a dream. It couldn't be real.

It was freedom obtained
in the most violent way.

But freedom nonetheless.

NARRATOR: Admiral Giampietri escapes

still holding the farewell
letter he wrote the night before.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Few people
get to rehearse their own death.

It gave me a great sense of peace.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: At that moment,
I said to myself, "I'm alive."

I finally knew I was alive.

NARRATOR: The microphone
in Admiral Giampietri's Bible

records the end of the
siege as the guns fall silent.

NARRATOR: Subsequent reports
say the commandos fired as many as

500 bullets into Cerpa's body.

(GUN FIRING)

Critics called it an
execution-style killing.

Bitter revenge against the man
who humiliated Peru's leadership

to a worldwide audience.

Whether he died in a gunfight,
or was savagely executed,

the truth may never be known.

On April the 22nd, 1997,

the Japanese Ambassador's residence
in Lima had been retaken after a siege

lasting 126 days.

Peruvian President Fujimori and
Intelligence Chief Vladimiro Montesinos

were hailed for their
victory over terrorism.

The 14 Tupac Amaru
terrorists were all dead.

President Fujimori personally inspected
their corpses for the TV cameras.

The death of the, all the
guerrillas was completely accepted.

Nobody raised an eyebrow.
Nobody questioned it.

Later, of course, there
were various stories that

some of the MRTA had surrendered.

Um, nobody much wanted
to talk about things like that.

NARRATOR: Only one hostage was killed.
Supreme Court Judge Carlos Giusti Acuna.

Two commandos also died.

Captain Raul Jimenez
and Colonel Juan Valer.

The man who took the bullet
meant for Peru's Foreign Minister.

The Tupac Amaru's violent
gamble ended in their own tragedy.

The organization effectively
died with Nestor Cerpa Cartolini.

His sons Nestor and Juan
Carlos now live in exile.

His wife Nancy will be in
jail for the rest of her life.

Sally Bowen believes that the Peruvian
government's violent solution to the hostage crisis

was born out of their own humiliation.

The military and the intelligent services

had been made to look stupid.

I mean, 14 guerrillas,

most of them untrained,

most of them very young,

who'd come from the jungle,
who'd never been in Lima before.

And even if they didn't
eventually gain their ends,

um, was a real blow to the pride

of the armed forces and
the intelligence services.

And they had to get revenge.

NARRATOR: Vladimiro
Montesinos and President Fujimori

were feted as heroes.

But in an extraordinary twist,

within two years they would become outlaws.

(INAUDIBLE)

Vladirmiro Montesinos was acclaimed
for his role in the victory over terrorism.

But it turned out

that the Supreme Chief of
Intelligence was using the war on terror

to hide a network of corruption.

Unlimited power for Montesinos

meant virtually unlimited control
over Peru's biggest business. Cocaine.

There's quite compelling
evidence that Montesinos

continued to ship cocaine out of Peru

during the Japanese embassy siege.

Taking advantage of the fact that

the eyes of the press were firmly fixed

on what was going on inside
the Japanese residence.

NARRATOR: In September, 2000,

Peruvian television transmitted
a secret video recording.

It showed Montesinos
bribing a Peruvian politician.

His empire of crime and
corruption was revealed.

By the time he had become
Fujimori's co-power broker,

he was really Peru's drugs kingpin.

He took a percentage on every
shipment of cocaine that left Peru.

NARRATOR: Montesinos fled the
country, but was captured in June of 2001.

When he fell, he took Peruvian
President Fujimori down with him.

In the end Fujimori could not
survive without Montesinos.

He also, um, fled the country

not long after Montesinos left.

About a couple of weeks.

He went off to an international
conference in Brunei

and, um, never came back.

He sent a fax telling the Peruvian
people that he was resigning.

NARRATOR: Just like
that, the President was gone.

Vladimiro Montesinos remains in a
Peruvian prison, awaiting a sentence

that would put him behind bars forever.

But the jailed cocaine czar's
saga may not be over yet.

The remnants of his
power and the threat, I think,

that he could possibly return someday,

um, that he could be released from jail,

um, and come and start

collecting some of the debts
that he thinks that people owe him

remains very present in Peru.

NARRATOR: Father Wicht was awarded
Peru's National Human Rights Prize

for his support of the hostages.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: Violence is no solution.

Violence only breeds violence,
hate, resentment and death.

NARRATOR: After the siege,
Admiral Giampietri went into politics

and was elected Vice
President of Peru, in 2006.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

TRANSLATOR: This wasn't a chance thing.

It was one of the
reasons I got into politics.

Because I really think that if
this country doesn't change,

our society could explode.

NARRATOR: A violet guerrilla, a corrupt
henchman, and a deceptive politician.

The actions of each of these three
men contributed to their tragic downfall.

One dead, two disgraced in
a countdown to catastrophe.

Six months after the siege, the Japanese
Ambassador's residence was knocked down.

Peru wiped away all evidence
of a house bathed in blood.