Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Summer 2000

Keywords

Lima hostages crisis

Abstract

The cocktail party planned at the Lima, Peru home of Japanese envoy Morihisa Aoki was not meant to be exceptional. The event, scheduled for December 17, 1996, was intended as a relaxed, pre-holiday celebration of Emperor Akihito’s 63rd birthday. The diplomatic officials of most embassies in Lima were invited for light cocktails and pre-Christmas conversation. No business was planned for the evening, and many of the officials in attendance brought their spouses, most of whom were well acquainted after years of circulating among similar gatherings. Approximately 600 people attended the party arriving throughout the early evening. A few minutes past seven o’clock, everything changed. Dressed as waiters bearing trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres, about 20 guerrillas slipped in through the service entry. Within fifteen minutes, they set a series of explosions and took 376 diplomats and government officials hostage. Included amongst the hostages were the Japanese ambassador, the Bolivian ambassador, the Peruvian foreign minister, the minister of finance, the head of Peru’s national Anti-Terrorism Bureau, a Supreme Court Justice, several Congressmen, and the mother and brother of Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori.

Department

Political Science

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Embassy takeovers--Peru--Lima; Hostage negotiations--Peru--Lima; Crisis management in government--Peru; Crisis management in government--Japan

Subjects - Names (LCNAF)

Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru

Geographic Coverage

Japan--Foreign relations--Peru; Peru--Foreign relations--Japan; Lima (Peru)

Genre/Form

student projects; term papers

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Download

Share

COinS