On December 17, 1996, MRTA terrorists took hundreds of people hostage at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru, including ministers and high-ranking military officials. For 126 days, the country remained in suspense as the Peruvian Army secretly planned Operation Chavín de Huantar, an intervention led by Commander Juan Valer. On April 22, 1997, after months of planning, Peruvian commandos carried out a rescue operation that kept Peru and the world on edge.