Lori Berenson - Imprisonment

Imprisonment

Berenson spent her early years in prison at facilities high in the Andes, the first of which the Inter-American Court ruled is operated inhumanely. The Yanamayo prison where Berenson was initially held for about three years lies at 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) above sea level near Lake Titicaca in the Puno Region, in southern Peru.

On October 7, 1998 Berenson was moved to another prison in Socabaya. She remained there until August 31, 2000, when she was transferred to the women's prison of Chorrillos in Lima. Then, on December 21, 2001, she was relocated to the maximum-security Huacariz Penitentiary in Cajamarca, 560 kilometres (350 mi) north of Lima.

In February 2002, Berenson took part in a 25-day hunger strike of "political prisoners" in an attempt to influence the government of Peru to improve prison conditions and revise its anti-terrorism laws. The strike ended without reaching its goals. Less than a year later, Peru revised many of those laws.

In October 2003, Berenson married Aníbal Apari Sánchez, 40, whom she had met in 1997 when they were both incarcerated at Yanamayo prison. Apari Sánchez was convicted of being a member of the MRTA. When released in 2003 on conditional liberty (parole) in Lima, his travel was restricted. Due to this, he was not present at the wedding in Cajamarca and had to be represented by his father. Later, her husband was allowed conjugal visits. Apari Sánchez is now a practicing attorney in Lima and directs a non-governmental organization (NGO) that assists individuals formerly imprisoned on charges of assisting or being members of the MRTA in their rehabilitation into society. He is also co-founder of a political party, Patria Libre, that intends to participate in the 2011 national elections.

From 2003 through 2008 Berenson worked in and co-managed the bakery at Huacariz Prison which served the inmate population and the Cajamarca community.

Periodically, through her website page entitled "Lori's Words," Berenson issues advice to youth as well as criticism of the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the war in Iraq, the "American Way of Life," the Peruvian "political class," and alleged maltreatment and torture of prisoners. Berenson's commentaries on capitalism, globalism, and alleged environmental destruction caused by mining companies have also appeared on the Internet. In addition, her commentaries are read on Prison Radio.

On September 16, 2008, her father announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In January 2009, Berenson was transferred to a prison in Lima due to a serious back problem which complicated her pregnancy. In May 2009, she gave birth to a boy, whom she named Salvador, and who lived with her while she was in prison. In Peru, children are allowed to remain with their incarcerated mothers until age 3.