Paroled Activist Lori Berenson Barred From Returning to US

Lori Berenson was supposed to be home in New York today for the first time since being arrested in Peru in 1995 for plotting a coup, reports AP. Berenson has been on parole since last year, and a Peruvian court gave the 42-year-old permission to go home for the holidays. But when she got to the airport today with her toddler son, she says authorities would not let her leave. "They're putting out this version that I arrived late," she says.

It's not clear whether she will be able to try again. Under the original deal, she was supposed to visit New York and then return to Peru in three weeks to complete her sentence. The former MIT student spent 15 years in prison on charges that she helped leftist guerrillas plan an armed attack on Peru's Congress, though the plan never came to fruition. (More Lori Berenson stories.)