The
ambience of diplomatic cocktail parties is very glamorous. The guest list
includes the usual suspects: high-ranking foreign dignitaries representing each
and every international mission in the country, senior business executives from
companies with stakes in the local market, and the who’s who of the domestic
political and business elite. Everyone pulls out their best attire, including
the military attaches looking very official with all their colourful medals.
Every country is subtly recommended to send the senior most people possible
from within their ranks as kindling fueling the flames of an amicable
relationship. Brian and I both had the pleasure of suiting up for some of these
fine occasions, which helped to refine our networking skills and proudly
represent our youth to the highest possible standard. These fancy shin-dings
are usually held to celebrate important events such as national days or in this
case, the Emperor Akihito of Japan’s 63rd birthday on December 17,
1996 at the official Japanese residence.
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| Japanese Ambassador Aoki and his wife Naoko greet Francisco Tudela |
On
that Tuesday evening, Brian and I were rocking out in the living room enjoying
some quality mind-numbing American television programming – we had the major
networks on Cable Magico transmitting from Denver, Colorado – while Maman was
stuck correcting exams as her deadline for handing in her students’ end of
semester marks approached. Dad’s mobility had been somewhat limited due to
contracting a treacherous stomach flu, needing to remain at close proximity of
his trustworthy white porcelain friend. No need to delve into further detail
there. He was the number two in our Embassy and was scheduled to attend the
function that evening however, due to his condition at the time, he honourably
bowed out. Our Ambassador Anthony Vincent and his wife, Lucie, were the only
fine members of our corps showing their friendly faces on behalf of our
country. Aside from them, many of my friends from school’s parents were there
as guests, sharing the memorable occasion as a sign of respect to the Japanese.
The people from the land of the rising sun were also blessed with the presence
of some of President Alberto Fujimori’s family (all very active in the
political world), members of his cabinet and government. Now that’s what I call
an A-list.
The
lavish soiree was eventually halted by the wrong kind of bang. A most unwelcome
and unexpected bang shifting to a rather molotovesque ambiance. An explosion on one of the rear walls of the
residence announced the rapid entrance of 14 members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (commonly referred to as MRTA), crashing the party with
Nestor Cerpa Cartolini at the helm. As Tim “The Toolman” Tailor’s antics on
Tool Time entertained Brian and I, Dad came running down the stairs dressed in
his work attire, followed by Maman walking swiftly behind him to see him off.
Ambassador Vincent’s driver, Segundo, had called him to let him know some
inexplicable event had unfolded. My brother and I wondered what had occurred as
there had not been enough time to tell us or to draw
significant conclusions. Our mother rushed to us, asking us to turn to the
local news channel. As the good sons we were, we complied only to witness live coverage from San Isidro – an upscale
Lima neighbourhood – with no real tickers explaining developments as commonly
observed on CNN showing all sorts of obscure live footage. Suddenly we saw
military vehicles, a Peruvian version of the elite American SWAT team and other
security forces taking over the streets amidst an air full of tear gas and
shots rifled through the air. It seemed that even the media had no idea what was going on,
except for an explosion having gone off. The locals were all very familiar with
bombs and violence, but thought that the days of terrorism were long gone after
defeating the Shining Path.
After
hours of watching and no news update from Dad, the situation was crystal clear.
This was a hostage crisis. My father was at the Embassy in Miraflores,
organizing a crisis centre to keep in the loop and act as a channel for Ottawa.
He brought in the RCMP attaché, security and consular staff with others on
standby if need be. They were bracing for everything and anything. My first
reaction was to thank God for my father’s stomach flu and my mother’s work.
Otherwise, they would have been there without a doubt. Then my mind turned to
the diversity of the school’s population and my friends. Actually, even those
who I just knew existed. Damn! Maybe they had parents in there! What was going
to happen to them? Would they ever see their parents again? Would the
terrorists execute one of them to demonstrate to the Peruvian government that
this was a serious outfit? Every scenario usually witnessed in a suspenseful
Hollywood action movie seemed possible. Surely, this never would have happened
in Canada.
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| Canadian Ambassador Anthony Vincent as he was released |
As
the clock struck 2:00 AM, the first hostages were released. These were
primarily women and older guests. Among the women was none other than Alberto
Fujimori’s mother who could have been a major bargaining chip. This was a
significantly male-driven society, similarly to its South American neighbours,
therefore it was impossible to conceive that any female hostage could be a potential
strategic asset. Within twenty-four hours, our Ambassador Anthony Vincent was
released along with Heribert Woeckell of Germany, Alcibiades Carokis of Greece
(these last two fleeing Peru on the first available flight after their return to
freedom) and Armando Lecaros, of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry at the time. The
MRTA released them in the condition they would take their various demands to
President Fujimori to begin a negotiation process. The Peruvians held strongly
to their conviction of not negotiating with terrorists, and Vincent and Lecaros
were continuously turned away by the closed door of the head of state’s office.
It was hardly a time to breathe easy as 300 men were left and their lives were
still in the balance. A good few weeks later, this number was reduced to 72 who
would be in this for the long haul. Some of my buddies such as Kensuke
Kobayashi and Jorge Gumucio were going to have to wait in suspense to find out
if their fathers were ever going to return home safely.
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