Peru

IN 1924, TWO YOUNG Peruvian intellectuals, Jose Carlos Mariategui and Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, met in a crowded cafe in Mexico City and founded the Peruvian left. On that fateful day, May 7, the two met to discuss Mariategui's visit throughout Europe and his participation in the great industrial strikes in Turin, Italy. The two decided on a path to promote the working and rural underclasses in their native Peru. As a result, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance or APRA was formed to address the needs of the Peruvian underclasses. The ideology of APRA reflected the ideological tendencies of its founder. De la Torre had a strong belief in the utility of the working class uniting in a regional manner. As a result, APRA promoted the idea of a system of Latin American solutions to specific Latin American problems. In addition, APRA promoted the notion of rejecting the capitalist political system of the United States while also rebuffing the ideological constraints of the Communist Soviet Union. Finally and most radically, APRA advocated universal democracy, equal rights, and respect for indigenous peoples, while also advocating a mild brand of economic nationalism.

APRA would become leader of the leftist movements throughout the 1930s, not only in Peru but more widely in Spanish-speaking South America. Its moderate tones and truly nationalist ideologies appealed to a working and rural underclass that was under economic strain from the Great Depression and industrialization. Indeed, between 1931 and 1945, APRA publicly advocated the overthrow of the military regime that had the support of the oligarchy. In 1945, the left and APRA participated in a political alliance and the party became legalized.

Unfortunately, the waning of the Peruvian system was unpredictable. In 1948, the military toppled the democratically elected government and once again outlawed any political opposition, including APRA.

The liberal ideology and popularity of the leftist APRA became a threat to the military regimes, which plagued the Peruvian political system until 1968. Significantly, the military that rose to power was socialist-oriented and sought to institute a serious number of social and agrarian reforms. APRA and the left found the reforms necessary and just in the political order. Unfortunately, De la Torre's drift to the right forced many of the APRA ideologues to change parties, specifically to the Socialists and the institutionalized Communist Party.

In 1985, popular democracy returned to Peru as the military relinquished control of the political system. After presiding over a free election, Francisco Belaunde turned the presidency over to the populist Alan Garcia Perez of APRA, who had swept to victory with 48 percent of the vote. Belaunde's party suffered a resounding defeat with a mere 6 percent of the vote, while the Marxist United Left (Izquierda Unida—IU) received 23 percent. The elections revealed a decided swing to the left by the Peruvian electorate. For the APRA, Garcia's victory was the culmination of more than half a century of political travail and struggle.

Unfortunately, Garcia's presidency suffered economic collapse, social chaos, and political corruption. The left suffered in the eyes of public opinion as a result of Garcia's inability to control his subordinates. In 1990, the left lost its hold on power to Alberto Fujimori who, within a year, would instigate an auto-golpe or self-coup, in alliance with the military to rid the country of the leftist influence.

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