Pubdate: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 Source: USA Today (US) Copyright: 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc Page: 8A Contact: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466 Author: Sibylla Brodzinsky, Special for USA TODAY IN PERU, PLANE IS A BACK-PAGE HEADLINE Nation Focused On Presidential Race And Recent Scandals LIMA, Peru -- Peruvians and Peru's media are immersed in nearly daily reports on scandals involving top government and military officials and a heated presidential campaign. They have had little time for the story of an American woman and her child who died last week when a Peruvian air force fighter shot down their light plane. "What plane?" is the most common response from Lima residents when asked what they think about last Friday's downing of a plane carrying American missionaries. Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed; pilot Kevin Donaldson was injured. Also surviving were Bowers' husband, Jim, and their 6-year-old son, Cory. The U.S. Embassy in Lima held a memorial service for the victims Thursday. A funeral for Veronica Bowers and her baby is scheduled for today in Fruitport, Mich. Burial is set for Sunday. U.S. and Peruvian authorities have been trying to piece together how the incident happened. The wreckage of the Cessna 185 was raised from the Amazon on Thursday so investigators could study bullet holes in the aircraft. There was no flight data recorder on the plane. A tape of a cockpit conversation from a CIA drug surveillance aircraft that was involved in the intercept of the missionaries' plane indicated that both a Peruvian officer who was with the CIA crew and the Peruvian fighter pilot failed to take a number of warning steps before firing on the civilian plane. Crewmembers on the CIA plane questioned whether the Peruvian military officials were following procedures, then attempted to stop them from firing on the Cessna. Peru's air force has said it followed proper air-intercept procedures. Although it has been front-page news in the USA, the story of the missionaries' plane has been bumped here by political intrigue and new reports on the whereabouts of Peru's most-wanted man, former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. He is wanted on charges of graft and human rights abuses. Montesinos, a top adviser to former president Alberto Fujimori, is at the center of congressional and criminal investigations of corruption and abuse of power during Fujimori's 10-year rule. He is believed to be hiding in Venezuela. Fujimori, living in self-imposed exile in Japan, also may be charged. Meanwhile, the former chairman of Peru's joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Nicolas Hermoza Rios, confessed in a closed hearing Tuesday that $14.5 million he had stashed in Switzerland was the product of "illicit activities." The revelation came days after interim President Valentin Paniagua sacked the chiefs of the army, navy and air force. They reportedly had signed a pact effectively endorsing Fujimori's "self-coup" in 1992, when he closed congress and ruled by decree. Top air force officers already were under investigation for the purchase of 21 allegedly obsolete and overpriced MiG-29 fighter planes from the former Soviet republic of Belarus. Top government and military officials have been accused of accepting bribes in the transaction. One of the planes test-flown for the investigators crashed. Last Friday's incident with the missionary plane "is just one more thing to add to the air force's problems," said political analyst Juan Abugattas of the University of Lima. "Once again, the air force finds itself in the middle of controversy." Although the government and military scandals are riveting for many Peruvians, most are more anxious about who will be their next president. Free-marketeer Alejandro Toledo won the first round of voting April 8 but failed to win a majority and avoid a runoff. His rival in the second round is Alan Garcia, a former president driven from office in 1990 and later into exile. Polls show, however, that nearly a quarter of Peruvians support neither candidate. There is widespread concern over the future handling of the economy, which has been stagnant for the past three years. Frazzled by the scandals and uncertainty, Peruvians now are being left in the dark even about the date when they will choose their next president. Election officials have proposed June 3 for the vote. However, a World Cup qualifying soccer match between Peru and Ecuador scheduled for the night of June 2 could complicate matters. Alcohol sales are prohibited for two days before an election, so fans in this soccer-mad country would be unable to toast victory or drown their sorrows after the game. The government is trying to persuade the Peruvian soccer federation to change the date of the game. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager