THE captives at the centre of Peru's hostage crisis, entering their 17th day in the hands of Marxist rebels yesterday, felt the brunt of tough posturing on all sides.
Top captives lost their jobs and the rebels said they could withstand siege conditions even if their prisoners could not.
Both President Alberto Fujimori and rebels of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) appeared to have dampened any lingering expectations of a prompt end to the standoff with uncompromising stands on Thursday.
As if on cue, a mist of fine rain fell on Lima into the early hours yesterday, sending policemen and journalists staking out the besieged residence of the Japanese ambassador scurrying for shelter.
Mr Fujimori on Thursday replaced the country's top anti-terrorist official and security chief and named a new Supreme Court president to replace Judge Moises Pantoja, whose term ended last Tuesday. All three ousted officials are among the 74 hostages still held by the rebels.
It was not clear whether the changes were routine or reflected official annoyance with the officials for security lapses which allowed the rebels to seize the residence.
Some commentators said the move could be a way for Mr Fujimori to reduce the value of the hostages to the rebels and signal that the country's affairs go on despite the standoff.
Mr Fujimori gave no explanation for the changes, but insisted that the crisis was not hurting Peru and condemned the rebels as "terrorists" bent on pointless violence.
The siege was "an isolated event that is not going, to upset the Peruvian economy," Mr Fujimori said in a speech at the Supreme Court.
Mr Fujimori also attacked the rebels claim to be fighting for Peru's poor.
"It is an error to think that the violence that arises from discontent can end poverty," he said.
"Twelve years of violence from Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path guerrillas) and the MRTA - feverish, destructive violence - has, on the contrary, made us poorer," he continued.
Mr Fujimori, whose popularity dipped in 1996 as Peru's economy faltered, said his government would spend 1997 working for "peace and employment".
But he gave no clue to his next move in the crisis.
The guerrillas have vowed to use the remaining captives as bargaining chips for their main demand, the release of roughly 400 comrades in Peruvian jails.
"We'll hold them there as long as it takes," an MRTA international spokesman, Mr Isaac Velazco, said in an interview from Germany.
"The guerrillas can stand it they've been trained in the jungle. But can the hostages? If they suffer, the Peruvian government must accept all responsibility for not facilitating a solution to this situation."
The MRTA has freed about 430 hostages since the siege began. The remaining captives include more than a dozen Japanese businessmen, top Peruvian government officials and Mr Fujimori's brother Pedro as well as the Japanese ambassador, Mr Morihisa Aoki.
Mr Fujimori has flatly rejected the rebel demands.