In 1991, he founded the Free Patriotic Movement, who was accused of being the legal wing of the MRTA (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) rebel movement, famous for the 1996-97 Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima. On 5 April 1992, Simon was in Europe, participating in conferences. Upon learning of the breakdown of the constitutional President Alberto Fujimori he returned to Peru and decided to participate in the protest against the closure of the Congress of Peru.