Lori : My Daughter, Wrongfully Imprisoned in Peru

Five years ago, 26-year-old Lori Berenson, an anthropology major, was in Peru researching articles on poverty and women's rights. She was arrested and spuriously charged with acting as a leader in a Peruvian terrorist group, the MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru). Tried without evidence by military officials, she was convicted and sent to a Draconian mountaintop prison with no heat, electricity, or running water. Lori's health has deteriorated as her parents work tirelessly to free her. This is their harrowing story, one that continues, day to day, as the Berensons, working with American officials, attempt to persuade the Peruvian government to reconsider her fate.

I came to post a review expecting to be the only one who had come to the obvious conclusion that Lori was guilty. Is the Peruvian justice system bad? Of course it it. The same is true with respect to the majority of countries in the world. Has she been mistreated? It seems likely. But after following this case since the beginning and reading everything I saw about it, including all of the information on Lori's website (most included in the book), there is NO doubt in my mind of her guilt. If an upper-class, liberal activist wants to be a martyr that's fine. But to insult our intelligence with this plee for help is unacceptable.

If you look at Lori's past, and the evidence, it is clear that the Peruvian government did its job and that she was guilty. Peruvian politics are not for dabbling, and for all her mother's wailing, she might at least look at reality a bit more clearly.

I love Peru, even with all its troubles, but this book is just an example of what can happen when an arrogant American goes to fight injustice in a faraway land and not at home. I think Camille Paglia's theories about protected middle class girls shocked when life gets rough outside of their environment apply here. Maybe someone can mail Lori some Camille Paglia.

This is a very strange memoir of a mother obsessed with her daughter's imprisonment in a faraway land for alleged terrorist activities. I don't know whether she committed these acts but the photograph of Lori on the cover of the book makes me wonder: Who is Lori? In any event, she looks like a sadist, not a human rights activist. Rhoda spends the entire book complaining about injustices, with a capital I--and her plane trips to Peru.

Rhoda Berenson's relentless defense of a daughter with revolutionary aspirations seems to confirm all of the unfavorable stereotypes about upper-middle income liberal New Yorkers. From my reading of this book, the Berensons are stuck---flying to Peru; lobbying for Lori's parole; and defending her odd approach to human rights---an approach that landed her in prison.

I read this book a few years after hearing about Lori's imprisonment in Peru and subsequent appeals for justice. I found the book seriously lacking in objectivity,and blatantly polemical in its awkward defense of Lori's bizarre behavior and misplaced good intentions. The author glosses over what seem to me to be the basic questions in this case--such as, why was Lori living in a house full of guns, ammunition, and terrorist operatives? Why was the U.S. ambassador to Peru so critical of her case? Why are so many congressmen unwilling to support her appeals? Why are human rights organizations uninterested in her case?

The author seems enthralled by her daughter's personality, intelligence, tenacity, motivation. Her fixation on Lori's "specialness" apparently began prenatal. An example of this daughter worship is an embarrassing comment about an embassy official's pro forma visit with Lori and Mrs. Berenson's jealousy that a near stranger could bask in Lori's charm and wit!

The final pages of the book consists of long and undigested quotes from Lori's judicial appeal. There is no analysis, just Lori's long, unbroken soliloquy.