Massive Security In Peru For Bush
Peru has mobilized thousands of riot police, readied planes and sent out warships on Friday to keep President Bush safe during his weekend visit, while the government promised to crack down on terror following a deadly bomb attack near Lima's U.S. Embassy.
Still, the visit to Peru couldn't have come at a better time for embattled President Alejandro Toledo.
After just eight months in office, Toledo's approval ratings have tumbled to below 30 percent as unions and grass-roots groups stage near daily street protests against his government and the lack of jobs.
The panorama darkened considerably Wednesday night, when a car bomb killed nine people in an outdoor shopping mall across from the U.S. Embassy — the worst terrorist attack there in five years. The tragedy heightened already brewing fears that the brutal Shining Path rebel movement was plotting a comeback.
"The state is moving to defeat terror and ensure security for all Peruvians. On this issue we cannot flinch," Toledo told Congress, promising to double security spending in a raft of special measures after a car bomb killed nine Wednesday across the street from the bunker-like embassy.
No one has claimed responsibility for the car bomb, which recalled the fearful years of violence in Peru's war against leftist rebels that killed 30,000 in the 1980s and 1990s.
Pledging to act with an "iron fist" against terror attacks, Toledo offered a $1 million reward for leads in the attack. Other measures include rebuilding the state intelligence apparatus and doubling the Interior Ministry's anti-terrorism budget.
Congress swiftly approved his anti-terror measures.
Toledo has hailed Mr. Bush's 17-hour visit to Lima as a slap on the back for democracy after the Andean nation was tarnished by the corruption that felled the hard-line regime of former President Alberto Fujimori in 2000.
During his overnight visit, the U.S. president will have a one-on-one meeting with Toledo and a discussion with leaders from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador.
The whirlwind trip will be Mr. Bush's first as president to South America, a distinction that has many pessimistic Peruvians asking: Why Peru?
"Because Peru has gone through a historic transition. It has peacefully recovered its democracy," U.S. Ambassador John Hamilton answered recently.
"Peru stands out in South America today for that achievement," he said. "It merits a visit — an endorsement — from my country."
The government has said it will take no chances in clamping down on security this weekend.
Some 7,000 police and soldiers were on "red alert," while off the coast of this sprawling, chaotic city of 8 million, two frigates stood guard on Thursday night and helicopters buzzed the sky. Streets around the plush oceanside hotel where Bush will stay on Saturday were strictly no-go and security guards with long-handled mirrors were checking cars in parking lots.
Riot police wearing bullet-proof jackets shut down much of Lima's busy colonial center to its usual thick street commerce and snarled traffic, checking identification cards near the presidential palace where Bush will meet Toledo, the leaders of Colombia and Bolivia and Ecuador's vice president.
"Bush's visit hasn't brought anything but death and more problems. It would be better if he doesn't come...I'm scared to death," said 32-year-old bank cashier Patricia de Figallo.
With President Bush leading a global war on terror in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when suspected Islamic extremists rammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, crack Peruvian soldiers staged mock seizures of hijackers in drills.
The air force readied MiG-29 fighters as the government, which is temporarily closing Peru's air space, vowed to shoot down unauthorized air traffic during the visit.
Mr. Bush arrives in Lima from a U.N. development conference in Monterrey, Mexico, for a visit expected to tackle free trade and, perhaps more key now, the U.S.-led war on terror.
The case of an American woman imprisoned in Peru for terrorism is on the list of President Bush's talking points, but there is no guarantee the topic will come up, senior administration officials said.
A meeting agenda drawn up by White House puts the case of Lori Berenson — and U.S. concerns about her treatment in the justice system — on the list, but "low on the list," an administration official said Friday on condition of anonymity.
"And who knows if the president will get to it," this official continued.
Higher on the list is pushing to curb the flow of illegal drugs from the Andean region that produces most of the world's cocaine. The United States is the world's top drug consumer.
Analysts say Mr. Bush could seek Toledo's support for a censure motion against Cuba — under a four-decade U.S. embargo — at a U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva.
But protesters in central Lima jeered the American president's much-vaunted visit, carrying signs showing him with devil's horns, and burning an American flag. Municipal workers, meanwhile, brushed gray paint over scrawled red and black graffiti reading "Destroy the oppressive system" and "genocidal Yankees."
"Toledo wants to make a big deal out of the fact a U.S. president is coming here and he doesn't care if we Peruvians are blown to bits," said taxi driver Luis Calle.