Was Fujimori "renditioned" in a carefully-planned set up?

November 8, 2005 -- Was Fujimori "renditioned" in a carefully-planned set up by the current and former CIA agents as a further slap at Bush? Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, wanted in Peru by the government of Alejandro Toledo, was arrested by Chilean authorities after his surprise arrival in Santiago to announce his return to politics in Peru. The high-profile arrest came as George W. Bush departed South America after a disastrous visit.

There are Peruvian and Interpol arrest warrants for Fujimori who has been exiled in Japan since he resigned from office while attending a 2000 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Brunei after a decade in power. Fujimori announced his resignation in a fax sent from Brunei before fleeing to exile in Japan.

Fujimori faces a 21-count indictment in Peru, including murder and corruption counts. What makes this case more intriguing is that the private plane that transported Fujimori stopped in Atlanta before flying to Chile. The Mexican government also confirmed the plane stopped in Mexico prior to flying to Chile. The presidents of Chile and Peru were meeting with George W. Bush in Mar del Plata at the Americas Summit just prior to Fujimori's flight from Japan to Atlanta and Mexico and on to Chile. The timing for a "rendition" while Chile's and Peru's presidents were engaged at the summit was perfect. No one suspected it, not even Fujimori's right-wing patrons in Tokyo, including Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and multi-millionaire Diet member Torao Tokuda. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, an ally of Bush, has resisted Peru's extradition efforts to have Fujimori returned. Intelligence insiders believe the Fujimori exfiltration to Chile may have been part of a clever ruse designed by disgruntled U.S. intelligence operatives to send a warning shot across Bush's bow. A Fujimori trial in Peru is bound to highlight his connections to various Bush family enterprises, not all of which are legal.

The Japanese government claims it was unaware of Fujimori's plans to travel to Chile. It was first reported that Fujimori traveled to Chile to launch a comeback bid for the Peruvian presidency. He was arrested after having set up shop for his new "Si Cumple" political party in Santiago's Marriott Hotel. Peru has asked Chile to extradite Fujimori to stand trial. The Chilean government, preoccupied with the Americas summit in neighboring Argentina, also seemed surprised at Fujimori's sudden arrival in Santiago.

There is speculation that Chile's arrest of Fujimori may be part of a larger ploy to get Peru to drop charges against Chilean billionaire businessman Andronico Luksic, Jr., the owner of a consortium of banks, telecommunications companies, factories, mines, and breweries. Luksic also faces an INTERPOL arrest warrant for failing to appear in a Peruvian court on September 29 to face charges that he paid a $3 million bribe to Fujimori's government involving the building of a pasta factory in Lima. That deal involved Peru's former National Intelligence Service (SIN) chief Vladimiro Montesinos, now jailed in Peru. Montesinos was code named "The Doctor" by the CIA and was well known as a facilitator for U.S. weapons smuggling and drug deals involving the Bush crime family. The CIA paid Montesinos at least $10 million between 1990 and 2000. The payments began just after the elder Bush launched his 1990 "Andean Initiative" to counter "drug proliferation" in the region. The Andean Initiative actually saw an expansion of coca growing fields in the region. Montesinos deposited $264 million in bank accounts in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, the United States, and Panama. Bush stopped in Panama for a short visit at the end of his South American trip.

Luksic also serves on the international advisory board for Barrick Gold along with George H. W. Bush and Brian Mulroney. Edward Ney, the elder Bush's ambassador to Canada, is a Barrick director. The Luksic Group's business ties with Japan began in 1954 when the patriarch of the family, Andronico Luksic, Sr., sold a copper mine to Nippon Mining Company, making a windfall profit.

There is speculation that Chile may trade Fujimori to Peru in return for dropping the charges against Luksic. That would be an unpopular move in Peru. Allowing Fujimori to return to Japan would further poison Chilean-Peruvian relations. If both Fujimori and Luksic stand trial in Peru, their ties to Bush family enterprises would certainly come out in the trials. Luksic's bribes to Fujimori and Montesinos, the CIA's payments to "El Doctor" Montesinos that began under Poppy Bush's administration, Luksic's connections to George H. W. Bush and other deals between the Bush family and corrupt politicians in Latin America may all come out in the wash. At a Fujimori trial, the government would certainly try to get his former spy chief to testify in return for leniency in his own sentence.

Some of Montesinos's former SIN officers have been tied to the procurement of Peruvian mercenaries to serve in the "Green Zone" in U.S.-occupied Baghdad. These deals have been conducted through a U.S. mercenary firm called Triple Canopy, formed by ex-Delta Force officers, and twoPeruvian firms, Gun Supply, Triple Canopy's agent in Lima, and Gesegur SAC, a company tied to the former SIN of Montesinos. Another firm, 3D Global Solutions in Indiana, screens Peruvian mercenaries for the Pentagon.

An upcoming Fujimori and/or Luksic trial in Peru could be very embarrassing for the Bush criminal family. Tales of drugs, weapons smuggling, bribes, and money laundering. Someone lured Fujimori to Chile during the Americas Summit -- CIA's revenge? Left to right: "El Doctor" Montesinos, Dubya, Poppy, Fujimori, Poppy's Barrick advisory board partner Luksic

If there is no quid pro quo involving a Fujimori extradition in return for dropping charges against Luksic, two high profile trials in Peru will bring out a lot of dirty laundry involving Bush family dealings in Latin America. However, even a trial for Fujimori is bound to embarrass George W. Bush and his father, especially after the younger Bush's disastrous trip to Latin America.