U.S. consulate officer visits Berenson in Peru prison

CNN October 20,1998 U.S. consulate officer visits Berenson in Peru prison

                  LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A U.S. consular officer on Monday visited a New
                  York woman serving a life sentence for treason in Peru at the prison where
                  she recently was transferred for medical tests.

                  Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Lima would not comment on the consular
                  official's visit to Lori Berenson, citing privacy considerations, but confirmed it
                  had taken place.

Mary Greenfield met with Berenson for three hours, local radio station
Radioprogramas reported.

Her parents, Mark and Rhoda Berenson, said they planned to visit their
daughter this weekend, pending approval of the visit by prison officials.

                  Berenson, 28, a former student at the Massachusetts Institute of
                  Technology, was convicted by a secret military tribunal in 1996 of helping
                  leftist rebels of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement plan a thwarted
                  assault on Peru's Congress.

                  After spending almost three years in the frigid Yanamayo prison, 12,700 feet
                  above sea level in the Andes mountains, Berenson was moved Oct. 8 to the
                  lower-altitude Socabaya prison, outside the southern city of Arequipa, for
                  medical tests.

In Yanamayo, her cell had no glass over its window. The altitude, cold and
poor food have damaged her health, her parents say.

                  In June, the International Red Cross said Berenson needed medical attention
                  for problems with her throat, liver, digestive system, hands and circulatory
                  system.

Prison officials have said the length of her stay in Socabaya prison will
depend on the test results.