The man who was called Peru's Rasputin is back behind bars. Mr. Vladimiro Montesinos, who backstopped former President Alberto Fujimori during his decade in office, has been caught in Venezuela after 10 months on the run and whisked to Lima. His life in exile was much like his years as Mr. Fujimori's side; Rumors abounded, but there were few facts to go on.
Peru now waits to hear the former spy master's confessions and incriminations. Japan, too, needs to be prepared: Mr. Montesinos is sure to blame Mr. Fujimori, and the government must be ready to explain why it will not hand over Mr. Fujimori, whom it shelters from justice in his own country.
"Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos," so named by his Marxist father to honor his hero, rose through the army to the rank of captain, but was cashiered in the late 1970s for selling information on Peru's Soviet-supplied arms to the CIA. He spent a year in prison -- narrowly avoiding a treason charge and the death penalty -- but the relationship would serve him well. After his release, Mr. Montesinos became a lawyer for drug traffickers until he met Mr. Fujimori in 1990, then running for president.