Lori Berenson Gives Birth To Boy In Peru

LIMA, Peru — An American woman serving a 20-year sentence in Peru for collaborating with leftist guerrillas gave birth Wednesday to a baby boy, her father said.

New York native Lori Berenson's son was delivered by cesarean section in a civilian hospital in Lima. The boy's father is a former member of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement whom Berenson met in jail and married in 2003.

"I'm just ecstatic. This child will likely be my only grandchild, and I'm going to spoil him if I can," her father, Mark Berenson, a former college professor, told The Associated Press.

Lori Berenson, a 39-year-old former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student, was arrested in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison by a military court the following year. A civilian court retried her in 2000, convicting her of the lesser crime of terrorist collaboration and reducing her sentence.

She denies any wrongdoing and maintains she is a political prisoner.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the legal arm of the Organization of American States, upheld the civilian court's ruling in 2004, closing Berenson's last avenue to formally appeal her sentence.

Berenson is eligible for parole in November 2010. Peruvian law permits Berenson to raise the child in prison until age three.

Named Salvador Anespori Apari Berenson, the infant will have dual U.S. and Peruvian citizenship. According to her sentence, Lori will be expelled from Peru upon release.

The father, Anibal Apari, was released from prison in 2003 and is now a lawyer in Lima.

The baby was delivered by cesarean because the pregnancy exacerbated Berenson's back problems. Doctors say she has degenerative arthritis of the spine and will require surgery.

The Cuban-inspired Tupac Amaru guerrillas _ best known for their four-month takeover of the Japanese ambassador's residence in 1996 in Lima _ and the larger Shining Path rebel group plunged Peru into chaos in the 1980s and early 1990s.

But unlike the bloodier, Maoist-inspired Shining Path, which was known for wholesale massacres, the Tupac Amaru cultivated a Robin Hood image, distributing food from hijacked trucks in poor neighborhoods.

Comments

[tlgeiger62]

I have followed Berenson's story off and on for many years. No where does it explain how she came to MEET let alone GET PREGNANT by a fellow male inmate.

This is insanity! And I can't imagine it helps her cause. But then again, I guess it doesn't really matter to her case. She's got 7 years to go.

HOWEVER, it begs the question..­.why would you elect to bring a child into this world while serving a prison sentence?

I'm done following this story.

[dubster]

Yeah that's the first thing that popped up in my mind, was how in the world did she meet a male inmate and manage to copulate and get pregnant. CRAZY!! Nevertheless, I don't know much else about her crimes and I hope she gets released soon.