Between Pebas and the next town toward the Brazilian border, there is a stretch of nearly 100 miles of almost nothing but tiny villages and a leper colony. The Peruvian craft certainly had the speed to intercept at any point along that stretch. Planes are shot down leaving, because when they leave they are carrying coca paste to Colombia for refining. Pictures of the downed planes with their coca-paste cargo go over well in the Peruvian dailies and continue to impress on Peruvians the need for Uncle Sam to keep coming through with military aid. But planes entering Peruvian airspace, particularly drug-running planes, are entering with cash.
Nobody shoots down planes loaded with cash.
They are simply forced down so their cash can be confiscated. So very little of the official US story makes sense the way it was told, unless the Peruvians were completely at fault, either through utter incompetence or malicious intent. With the exception of Fidel Castro, the head of every country in the Americas was present, including George Bush. It was Bush's first summit appearance, and he was pushing the ratification of the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. In recent weeks he has also changed the name of Clinton's Plan Colombia to the Andes Initiative, and has been working hard to give it his own stamp.