Op-Ed Columns

Would a serious newspaper accuse someone of supporting terrorism simply because the paper does not like the person's politics? In the case of The Wall Street Journal, the answer appears to be yes.

In a column on April 28, a Journal correspondent, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, described a recent controversy regarding the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). The MRTA, along with another group, Sendero Luminoso, are terrorist organizations that plagued Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, after a two-year investigation, issued a report in 2003 noting that Sendero was responsible for 54 percent of an estimated 69,280 murders and the MRTA for about 2 percent. Security forces were found to be responsible for the remainder. Given that death toll, it is easy to understand why terrorism is still a sensitive subject in Peru.

The controversy erupted when the European Union was considering adding the MRTA to its list of terrorist organizations. The EU began the list after the 9/11 attacks as a way to strengthen international efforts to combat terrorism; it always included Sendero. The Peruvian government and some members of the Peruvian congress reacted vociferously when a local human-rights organization sent a letter to the EU suggesting the MRTA not be included. The group, the Pro-Human Rights Association or APRODEH, was accused of treason, defending terrorists and insulting the armed forces.

O'Grady described the European action as taking the MRTA off the list, even though it was never on it and called the decision "maddening." She added that it was instructive since it shows how "terrorists can advance their cause with the help of nongovernmental organizations" that are often funded by "foreign government and philanthropists."

She went on to talk about Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, and the activities of the Bolivarian Movement he funds and its possible connections to terrorism. She then circled back to APRODEH, noting that it received funding from George Soros's Open Society and the U.S. Government. She concluded that the work of foreign-funded NGOs like APRODEH "in the interest of terrorist organizations warrants urgent attention." The article helpfully included a picture of Soros just to make the connection clear.

A couple of other points should also be made clear. First, the MRTA is a terrorist organization. I am well aware of that since I came within half an hour of being taken hostage by them. Nine of my staff at the U.S. Embassy in Lima — and five of their wives — who attended the reception at the Japanese ambassador's residence in December 1996 and did not leave early were not as lucky. Second, Chavez does support terrorism. The laptop recovered by Columbian authorities when they raided a base in Ecuador of the FARC terrorist group clearly demonstrated that. Chavez, thanks in no small part due to our oil gluttony, has hundreds of millions of dollars to pass out. He is not particular where he buys his friends.

That said, APRODEH and other Peruvian human-rights NGOs do not support terrorism. In APRODEH's letter to the EU, the organization stated explicitly that it has always "rejected and condemned acts of terror by groups like Sendero and the MRTA." It pointed out however there had not been any MRTA activity in more than eight years and it was therefore pointless to put it on the list.

APRODEH is not the only one to note the inactivity of the MRTA. Last year's report on terrorism put out by the State Department points out: "The MRTA has not conducted a significant terrorist attack since the December 1996 hostage taking at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima." The State Department also maintains a list of terrorist organizations, and it removed the MRTA from that list in October 2001 — a point in time at which the USG was not exactly insensitive to the threat of terrorism.

The only source quoted by O'Grady to support her charges was Rolando Sousa. She neglected to explain that Sousa belongs to the political party of Alberto Fujimori, the disgraced former president who fled the country and faxed in his resignation in 2000. He also is on trial in Peru on multiple counts of human-rights abuse, corruption and other charges.

During the Fujimori regime, APRODEH and other organizations bravely defended human rights and were subjected to a constant stream of criticism and threats from the far right. They now see that on the rise again. So is O'Grady's encouragement of those threats the result of sloppy journalism or is it simply an attempt by the Journal to smear Soros because they don't like his politics?

Dennis Jett served as ambassador in Peru and Mozambique and on the National Security Council. His book, "Why American Foreign Policy Fails," is being published this month by Palgrave Macmillan. E-mail: dennisjett@hotmail.com.