NEWARK, N. J. ( AP) — Paroled American Lori Berenson, who stirred international controversy after being convicted of aiding Peruvian guerrillas, was due to arrive in the United States today for her first visit back home since Peruvian authorities arrested her in 1995.

The 42-year-old boarded a Continental Airlines flight at Lima’s main airport under intense media scrutiny, as many in Peru wonder whether she will return to the country by the court-ordered deadline of Jan. 11.

Wearing a black turtleneck, black jeans and designer eyeglasses, Berenson told an Associated Press reporter while waiting for her flight that she intended to return to Peru. Berenson was accompanied by a U.S. Embassy employee.

“ I just hope we don’t get caught in a snowstorm,” she said, joking that such an occurrence in the U.S. would delay her return.

The AP reporter watched Berenson carry her 2-year-old son Salvador Apari to a seat in the back of the plane’s economy section. The plane’s doors were closed, and its wheels lifted off at 12:25 p.m. local time. It was scheduled to land at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey this morning.

Berenson’s departure capped three days of confusion after Peruvian authorities had prevented her from boarding a flight to New York on Friday despite a court approval allowing her to leave.

The authorities said Berenson, who had served 15 years on an accomplice to terrorism conviction before her parole last year, lacked an additional document.

Peruvian migration officials finally gave Berenson another document Monday clearing her to leave the country with her son to spend the holidays with her family in New York City.

Her father, Mark Berenson, said Monday that he was anxious to see her return.

“ I’m just glad that they finally resolved the thing,” he told the AP by phone from New York.