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81-573: Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a Peruvian general who served as the President of Peru after a successful coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde 's presidency in 1968. Under his presidency , nationalism , as well as left-leaning policies that addressed indigenous Peruvians , such as nationalization or agrarian reform were adopted. These policies were reversed after another coup d'état in 1975 led by his Prime Minister, Francisco Morales Bermúdez . Velasco had

162-520: A sovereign debt obligation of which the government defaulted payment due to the hyperinflationary period that affected Peru's economy in the late 1980s, leaving the current value of the bonds up for debate and resulting in a decade-long lawsuit against the Peruvian government. The deposed Belaúnde administration had attempted to implement a milder agrarian reform program, but it was defeated in Congress by

243-523: A 200-mile fishing limit that resulted in the seizure of several US commercial fishing boats and the expropriation of the American copper mining company Cerro de Pasco Corporation. However, in spite of these provocations, the U.S. responded immediately with humanitarian aid in 1970, when an earthquake killed about 50,000 people and left over 600,000 homeless. Another main goal of the Velasco administration, besides

324-504: A city near Piura on Peru's north coast. He was the son of Manuel José Velasco, a medical assistant, and Clara Luz Alvarado, who had 11 children. Velasco described his youth as one of "dignified poverty, working as a shoeshine boy in Piura." In 1929, he stowed away on a ship to Lima, Peru , falsified his age, and tried to enlist as an officer in the Peruvian Army . However, he arrived late to

405-563: A confrontational foreign policy towards the United States, as he pushed for renegotiation of treaties and criticized what he perceived as a pernicious dependence of Latin American states on the United States. While he strengthened Peruvian relations with the Soviet Union, Velasco was firmly anti-communist. His foreign policy has been described as " third way ." Juan Velasco was born in Castilla,

486-493: A contract (the 11th) was found missing. The Armed Forces , fearing that this scandal might lead to another uprising or a takeover from the APRA party, seized absolute power and close down Congress, almost all of whose members were briefly incarcerated. General Velasco seized power on October 3, 1968, in a bloodless military coup, deposing the democratically elected administration of Fernando Belaúnde , under which he served as Commander of

567-469: A coup by which General Francisco Morales Bermúdez became de facto president on August 29, 1975, beginning the second phase of the Revolutionary Government. Velasco Alvarado was overthrown in 1975 by his prime minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez , who overturned many of Velasco Alvarado's pro-Socialist reforms and joined Operation Condor . His government repressed the protests that surged as

648-409: A law that was never enacted. A cornerstone of Velasco's political and economic strategy was the implementation by dictate of an agrarian reform program to expropriate farms and diversify land ownership. In its first ten years in power, the Revolutionary Government expropriated 15,000 properties (totaling nine million hectares) and benefited some 300,000 families. Peru's agrarian reform under Velasco

729-434: A low profile in Peruvian politics until his death in 1977. His funeral was attended by a large amount of sympathizers to the point where the government had to release a communiqué requesting order during the event. Due to the international market moving away from Peruvian exports in the 1970s, efforts by Velasco to solidify industries of typical exports were fruitless and resulted with a debt burden. Furthermore, his government

810-446: A non-capitalist society. Consequently, no one should be surprised that our economic policy is aimed at overcoming capitalism as a system in Peru and, therefore, at reforming the structure of Peruvian capitalist companies as profoundly as necessary. In a 1975 speech Velasco described his revolution as one that rejected both capitalism and communism, stating that there is marked confusionism in

891-573: A norm as he held no majority in Congress. Serious arguments between President Belaúnde and Congress, dominated by the APRA - UNO (Unión Nacional Odríista) coalition, and even between the President and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party were common. Congress went on to censure several cabinets of the Belaunde administration, and a general political instability was perceived. Also, between 1964 and 1965

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972-516: A partnership with the Soviet bloc , tightening relations with Cuba and Fidel Castro and undertaking major purchases of Soviet military hardware. Relations between the United States and Peru were tense and even hostile, as soon as General Velasco and his junta took power. This was due to the government's socialist-leaning policies, but also because of a belief on the part of the Peruvian public that

1053-403: A result of inflation. The Morales Bermudez administration assumed a country in a serious economic crisis after Velasco's reforms. The economy failed to improve amid rising inflation and recession, as well as rising unemployment. This situation led to high social discontent, where many people of the working class, particularly those closest to the labor unions, came to see in each government action

1134-492: A result of social discontent. The first strike was held on July 19, 1977, the objective of which was to demand an improvement in the employment and salary situation, and the second in May of the following year, with a broader list of claims. Morales Bermudez was forced to call a Constitutional Assembly, which was led by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre , and new elections . The Revolutionary Government came to an end after Fernando Belaunde

1215-634: A reversal of the military revolution towards submission to the International Monetary Fund , as it proved unable to continue with the original leftist military government program, instead continuing with Morales Bermudez's program, such as the replacement of the Inca Plan with the Tupac Amaru Plan . Two general strikes were called by unions such as the Workers' General Confederation of Peru as

1296-477: A social, economic and political order essentially different from the one proposed by the capitalist and communist models. Apart from this fundamental difference in purpose, there are decisive differences in political strategy, method and behavior with those who maintain the validity of these systems. In short, we have nothing essential in common, from the theoretical-ideological point of view, neither with capitalism nor with communism. Politically, this means that within

1377-447: A then relatively unknown Hugo Chávez and around one dozen fellow cadets and soldiers, all youths, traveled to Ayacucho , Peru to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the eponymous battle . There, they were personally greeted by General Velasco. Velasco gave each of them a miniature pocket edition of La Revolución Nacional Peruana ("The Peruvian National Revolution"). The cadets also noted Velasco's perceived close relationship with both

1458-521: Is open to insurmountable objections of an economic, ethical and social nature, from our point of view communism is also invalid for the reality of Peru and unacceptable for the humanist aims of our Revolution. In 1971, the country celebrated its 150th anniversary since its independence . As a result, the Revolutionary Government established the National Commission for the Sesquicentennial of

1539-402: Is partly responsible for the centralization of the country. After the agrarian reform, urbanization began occurring across the country, as people moved into Lima and other coastal cities. The Velasco government's failure to adequately manage the influx of people, as well as the indifference of subsequent governments to the issue, contributed to the creation of slums around Peru's cities. In 1974,

1620-657: The Populibros Peruanos collection, which published more than seventy titles of universal and Peruvian literature, or the Peruvian Library of PEISA , which reissued books on history and current national affairs. On the other hand, Peruvian cinema had a boom with indigenous themes thanks to the financing of the revolutionary government through the National Mobilization Support System (SINAMOS). Movies such as Runan Caycu (1973) by Nora de Izcue and

1701-585: The Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) , led by an APRA militant, Luis de la Puente Uceda , and Guillermo Lobatón. The Armed Forces, especially the Peruvian Army, quickly and forcefully defeated the ELN and MIR guerrillas. However, they realized the urgency of social and economic reforms in a country where there was still an oligarchic elite and huge marginalized groups of the poor and indigenous. Faced with

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1782-473: The Soviet bloc , tightening relations with Cuba and Fidel Castro as well as Romania and Nicolae Ceaușescu and undertaking major purchases of Soviet military hardware. Velasco was greatly influenced by socialist Yugoslavia's policies of self-management and worked with Yugoslav economist Edvard Kardelj to help implement similar policies in Peru. Yugoslavia aided the Junta financially and diplomatically, and

1863-479: The United States and Peru were tense and even hostile, as soon as General Velasco and his junta took power. This was due to the government's socialist-leaning policies, but also because of a belief on the part of the Peruvian public that the U.S. generally favored other nations first, such as Chile in the context of their territorial dispute (in spite of its support of Peru over the Tarata dispute), or Colombia , in

1944-610: The cruiser BAP  Almirante Grau received from the Netherlands . The Peruvian Navy mirrored that of Chile. The enormous amount of weaponry purchased by Peru caused a meeting between former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Augusto Pinochet in 1976. Velasco's military plan was to launch a massive sea, air, and land invasion against Chile. In 1999, General Pinochet claimed that if Peru had attacked Chile during 1973 or even 1978, Peruvian forces could have penetrated deep south into Chilean territory, possibly even taking

2025-541: The "ideological incompatibility" between the regimes of Velasco Alvarado and Pinochet and that Peru would have been concerned about Pinochet's geopolitical views on Chile's need of naval hegemony in the Southeastern Pacific. Chileans should stop with the bullshit or tomorrow I shall eat breakfast in Santiago. Economic difficulties such as inflation, unemployment, food shortages and increased political opposition after

2106-478: The 1974 crackdown on the press ultimately increased pressures on the Velasco administration and led to its downfall. On August 29, 1975, a number of prominent military commanders initiated a coup in the southern city of Tacna , nicknamed the Tacnazo . The military commanders of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th military regions declared that Velasco had not achieved most of what the "Peruvian Revolution" had stood for and

2187-452: The APRA-UNO coalition with support of the major landowners . Within this framework, the Velasco administration engaged in a program of import substitution industrialization , imposing tight foreign exchange and trade controls. The success of the Velasco administration's economic policies is still debated today. As the Peruvian military government ran deeper into debt, it was forced to devalue

2268-569: The Armed Forces. President Belaúnde was sent into exile. Initial reaction against the coup evaporated after five days when on October 8, 1968, the oil fields in dispute were taken over by the Army. The coup leaders named their administration the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces , with Velasco at its helm as President. Velasco's administration articulated a desire to give justice to

2349-677: The Chilean city of Copiapó located half way on the way to Santiago . The Chilean Armed Forces considered launching a preventive war to defend itself. However, Pinochet's Chilean Air Force General Fernando Matthei opposed a preventive war and responded that "I can guarantee that the Peruvians would destroy the Chilean Air Force in the first five minutes of the war". Some analysts believe the fear of attack by Chilean and US officials as largely unjustified but logical for them to experience, considering

2430-504: The Chilean city of Copiapó located halfway to Santiago . The Chilean Armed Forces considered launching a preventive war to defend itself. Though, Pinochet's Chilean Air Force General Fernando Matthei opposed a preventive war and responded that "I can guarantee that the Peruvians would destroy the Chilean Air Force in the first five minutes of the war". Some analysts believe the fear of attack by Chilean and US officials as largely unjustified but logical for them to experience, considering

2511-591: The Independence of Peru ( Spanish : Comisión Nacional del Sesquicentenario de la Independencia del Perú (CNSIP) ) to manage the celebrations. The education reform of 1972 provided for bilingual education for the indigenous people of the Andes and the Amazon, which consisted nearly half of the population. In 1975, the Velasco government enacted a law making Quechua an official language of Peru equal to Spanish. Thus, Peru

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2592-536: The Peruvian Revolution we cannot adopt any attitude that directly or indirectly favors, in the present, or in the future, the maintenance or triumph of the systems that it challenges. In other words, by rejecting capitalism, we reject all possible pro-capitalisms. And by rejecting communism, we reject all possible pro-communisms. In foreign policy, in contrast with his 1970s Latin American contemporaries, which were mostly right-wing military dictatorships, he pursued

2673-568: The Peruvian border with Ecuador , Piura being the region where Velasco was born. IPC was a subsidiary of Standard Oil , and although the claims over the IPC were ultimately resolved in negotiations between the two governments, the US after this seizure no longer considered Peru an ally or a friendly country. Instead, the CIA started to organize plans to destabilize and to overthrow General Velasco. Disagreements between

2754-413: The Peruvian masses and the rank and file of the Peruvian military. Chávez became attached to this book and would study its contents and constantly carry it on his person. However, Chávez later lost it after his arrest for leading the 1992 Venezuelan coup attempt . Twenty-five years later, as president, Chávez ordered the printing of millions of copies of his government's new Bolivarian Constitution only in

2835-453: The Pinochet dictatorship had come into power with a coup against democratically elected president Salvador Allende . According to sources, the alleged invasion scheme could be seen from the Chilean's government perspective as a plan for some kind of leftist counterattack. While acknowledging the Peruvian plans were revisionistic scholar Kalevi J. Holsti claim more important issues behind were

2916-405: The Pinochet dictatorship had come into power with a coup against democratically elected president Salvador Allende . According to sources, the alleged invasion scheme could be seen from the Chilean's military regime perspective as a plan for some kind of leftist counterattack. While acknowledging the Peruvian plans were revisionistic, scholar Kalevi J. Holsti claim more important issues behind were

2997-518: The Talara Act and the Page 11 scandals, through a coup d'état , on October 3, 1968. The coup was soon followed by the military takeover of La Brea y Pariñas oil complex on October 9, which helped the new government in its consolidation of power in the country. Velasco's administration articulated a desire to give justice to the poor through a regime of nationalization known as Peruanismo . Velasco's rule

3078-517: The U.S. generally favored other nations first, such as Chile in the context of their territorial dispute (in spite of its support of Peru over the Tarata dispute), or Colombia , in the context of the United States' mediation in favor of the Salomon-Lozano Treaty in order to compensate the country for its loss of Panama . Just five days after Velasco seized power in 1968, the General began

3159-504: The United States and Peru continued over a broad range of issues including even Peru's claim to a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) fishing limit that resulted in the seizure of several US commercial fishing boats and the expropriation of the American copper mining company Cerro de Pasco Corporation. However, in spite of these provocations, the U.S. responded immediately with humanitarian aid in 1970, when an earthquake killed about 50,000 people and left over 600,000 homeless. Velasco's army

3240-400: The aesthetics of pop art and representing the " achorado " Peruvian Indian as a synonym of defiance and insolence. In foreign policy, in contrast with his 1970s Latin American contemporaries, which were mostly right-wing military dictatorships, Velasco pursued a partnership with communist countries, beginning with Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia . By 1969 he established warm relations with

3321-407: The army ", which is more senior, and corresponds to marshal or field marshal . Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru The Revolutionary Junta , headed by Juan Velasco Alvarado , appointed him as the de facto leader of the government, which promoted revolutionary nationalism and left-wing ideas that left a deep impact in the country. Among the policies promoted were

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3402-582: The army had been sent to deal with two military uprisings inspired by the Cuban Revolution. Through the use of guerrilla tactics, both the National Liberation Army (ELN) commanded by Héctor Béjar and Javier Heraud , and the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) , led by an APRA militant, Luis de la Puente Uceda , and Guillermo Lobatón, tried to instigate a revolution, being unsuccessful. Nevertheless, these conflicts led several military officers to

3483-595: The context of the United States' mediation in favor of the Salomon-Lozano Treaty in order to compensate the country for its loss of Panama . Just five days after Velasco seized power in 1968, the General began the nationalization of the Peruvian Economy with the expropriation and nationalization of the American International Petroleum Company (IPC) oil fields located in the northern Peruvian oil port and refinery of Talara , Piura , near

3564-483: The coup, he was convalescing in the presidential winter residence at Chaclacayo , countryside 20 kilometers east of Lima. He immediately called for a meeting with his council of ministers, at Government Palace in downtown Lima, where he discovered that there was little or nothing to do. He made a last speech to the nation on the evening of August 29, 1975, announcing his decision not to resist the coup because "Peruvians cannot fight against each other". General Velasco kept

3645-408: The currency and run inflationary policies. This however, was in part due to the 1970s energy crisis , which also affected Peru and made it impossible for the Velasco administration to fund some of its most ambitious reforms. Economic growth under the administration was steady if unremarkable - real per capita GDP (constant 2000 US$ ) increased 3.2% per year from 1968 to 1975. In 1971, Velasco described

3726-633: The docudrama Kuntur Wachana (1977) by Federico García Hurtado stand out. The Peruvian plastic arts were also influenced by the Peruvian revolution, the Directorate for the Promotion and Diffusion of the Agrarian Reform sponsored the birth of artist Jesús Ruiz Durand's achorado pop . Ruiz created posters, logos and even comics where the peasant, the worker and the Indigenous people are protagonists, taking

3807-402: The economic policy as one aimed at overcoming capitalism in Peru, stating that The various laws that create Labor Communities constitute, as a whole, the reform of the traditional capitalist company. Its frame of reference is, therefore, the existing production system in the country, that is, the totality of economic companies. In this field, the revolutionary reforms tend to substantially modify

3888-796: The economic theory of developmentalism , which promoted agrarian reforms , industrialization through import substitution and the use of income sourced from the exploitation of natural resources. Such was the case of the New National Ideology in Venezuela , the Bolivian Revolution of 1952, the second government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in Chile , the National Development Plan of Juscelino Kubitschek in Brazil , among others. In Peru,

3969-484: The electoral victory in 1962 of Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre , head of the Peruvian Aprista Party , was annulled by a coup . The APRA government program proposed a transformation of the country, betting on agrarian reform to end the servitude regime on the indigenous people that still existed on the haciendas. The Military Junta of 1962 called for new elections for the following year, in which Fernando Belaunde

4050-553: The exam, so he joined as a private on April 5, 1929. A year later, he took a competitive exam for entrance into the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos , and got the highest score of all applicants. In 1934, he graduated with high honors and at the head of his class. He married Consuelo Gonzales Posada in 1940, with whom he had several children. During the Fernando Belaúnde 's administration (1963–1968), political disputes became

4131-588: The failure of the Belaundista reformism in democracy, the military decided to make the changes themselves with the idea of "starting the revolution from above to prevent it from being started from below." The first phase of the dictatorship, calling itself the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, began with the de facto presidency of the Army Commander General, Major General Juan Velasco Alvarado , who overthrew President Fernando Belaúnde , after

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4212-508: The fierce parliamentary opposition from APRA and the right-wing Odriist National Union , led by Manuel Odría . In addition, Belaúnde had to face the peasant mobilization in Cusco led by Hugo Blanco and the irruption of two guerrilla forces in the country inspired by the victory of the Cuban Revolution : the National Liberation Army (ELN) commanded by Héctor Béjar and Javier Heraud , and

4293-545: The form of miniature blue booklets, a partial tribute to Velasco's gift. Army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System . Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer four-rank system, it is the rank of a general commanding a field army . However, in some countries such as Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, which have adopted

4374-542: The land, since it was the day of winter solstice . The education reform of 1972 provided for bilingual education for the indigenous people of the Andes and the Amazon, which consisted nearly half of the population. In 1975, the Velasco government enacted a law making Quechua an official language of Peru equal to Spanish. However, this law was never enforced and ceased to be valid when the 1979 constitution became effective, according to which Quechua and Aymara are official only where they predominate, as mandated by law –

4455-462: The models of our Nationalist Revolution. The traditional order against which our Revolution insurged was a capitalist order and we know very well the deep roots of injustice that it contains because that was, precisely, the system under whose aegis we became a dependent and underdeveloped nation. But while it is true that the capitalist system, today harshly criticized by the Catholic Church as well,

4536-529: The most impoverished parts of the country, and after witnessing the reality of the country-side and studying the reasons which led to the uprisings, they began to consider social inequality and poverty as a danger to national security. A dispute with the International Petroleum Company over licenses to the La Brea y Pariñas oil fields in northern Peru sparked a national scandal when a key page of

4617-593: The nationalization of the Peruvian economy with the expropriation and nationalization of the American International Petroleum Company (IPC) oil fields located in the northern Peruvian oil port and refinery of Talara , Piura , near the Peruvian border with Ecuador , Piura being the region where Velasco was born. The IPC expropriation was one of the first foreign policy crises for the new American administration of President Richard Nixon. John N. Irwin II

4698-752: The nationalization of the main areas of the Peruvian economy and the agrarian reforms, was a military strengthening of Peru. Despite Chilean fears that Velasco planned on reconquering the lands lost by Peru to Chile in the War of the Pacific , such claims have been since disputed. It is estimated that from 1970 to 1975 Peru spent up to US$ 2 billion (roughly US$ 25 billion in 2021 dollars) on Soviet armament. According to various sources Velasco's government bought between 600 and 1200 T-55 Main Battle Tanks, APCs , 60 to 90 Sukhoi 22 warplanes, 500,000 assault rifles, and even considered

4779-583: The newspapers in 1974 and sending the publishers into exile. A cornerstone of Velasco's political and economic strategy was the implementation by dictate of an agrarian reform program to expropriate farms and diversify land ownership. In its first ten years in power, the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces (GRFA) expropriated 15,000 properties (totaling nine million hectares) and benefited some 300,000 families. The former landlords who opposed this program believed that they did not receive adequate compensation for their confiscated assets and lamented that

4860-738: The poor through a regime of nationalization known as Peruanismo . Velasco's rule was characterized by broadly social democratic, developmentalist, and independent nationalist policies, which aimed to create a strong national industry to increase the international independence of Peru. To that end, he nationalised entire industries, expropriated companies in a wide range of activities from fisheries to mining to telecommunications to power production and consolidated them into single industry-centric government-run entities, and increased government control over economic activity by enforcing those entities as monopolies and disincentivized private activity in those sectors. Most reforms were planned by leftist intellectuals of

4941-442: The promulgation of agrarian reform , the official recognition of Quechua , an increase of worker's rights , and the empowerment of workers' unions and indigenous Peruvians . Other measures, however, such as the nationalization of natural resources and the expropriation of companies and the media, generated a severe economic crisis and caused the international isolation of the country. In response to this situation, Alvarado

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5022-704: The public treatment of fundamental ideological problems. This confusion originates from the mistaken statements of those who do not understand what our Revolution really means. But all his adversaries take advantage of him. Central responsibility for all of this falls on some elements that have distorted and confused the true nature of the Revolution, both with regard to our position against capitalism and communism, as well as with regard to our relations with traditional political groups and parties who defend both systems. Both are important issues. And to them I must refer clearly. I reiterate once again that our Revolution seeks to build

5103-457: The purchase of the British Centaur -class light fleet carrier HMS  Bulwark . The Peruvian Army had 1,200 units in total raging from T-55 Main Battle Tanks and APCs . The Peruvian Air Force had 90 Sukhoi 22 warplanes for combat and Antonov An-26 and An-32 transport aircraft, as well as Mil Mi-8 , Mi-17 , Mi-25 and Mi-26 helicopters. The Peruvian Navy's flagship was

5184-464: The purchase of the British Centaur -class light fleet carrier HMS  Bulwark . The enormous amount of weaponry purchased by Peru caused a meeting between former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Chilean US-backed dictator General Augusto Pinochet in 1976. In 1999, Pinochet claimed that if Peru had attacked Chile during 1973 or even 1978, Peruvian forces could have penetrated deep south into Chilean territory, possibly militarily taking

5265-518: The state officials and peasant beneficiaries mismanaged their properties after the expropriation. On February 5, 1975, there was a police strike that generated riots and looting in the historic center of Lima, which created a massive increase of crime and general unrest in the capital and precipitated the fall of Velasco. This event would be later known as the Limazo . Months later, the Tacnazo occurred,

5346-462: The three-rank system, the rank of army general is immediately above that of divisional general . As such, it is the rank of commander of an army corps or larger formations. The equivalent position in the Commonwealth , U.S. , and several other countries is simply general , four-star rank , or informally " full general ". The title "army general" should not be confused with the rank " general of

5427-514: The time, and some of them successfully improved the Peruvian quality of life. Among the state-owned companies created by the government were: A root and branch education reform was in march looking to include all Peruvians and move them towards to a new national thinking and feeling; the poor and the most excluded were prioritized in this system and the name of the Peruvian Indian Day ( Spanish : Día del Indio ), celebrated every June 24,

5508-405: The time. A root and branch education reform was implemented, seeking to promote inclusivity among all Peruvians and move them towards to a new national way of thinking and feeling; the poor and the most excluded were prioritized in this system. The Día del Indio or Peruvian Indian's day became Día del Campesino or Peruvian Peasant's day. This holiday fell on June 24, a traditional holiday of

5589-534: The traditional capitalist company, according to the principles and postulates of the Revolution that the Armed Forces promised the country in its Manifesto of October 3, 1968. Without However, here have arisen, as in the case of the Agrarian Reform, the understandable difficulties of understanding inherent to all truly creative work. That is why it is also my responsibility, as head of the Revolutionary Government, to specify our position clearly in this regard. First of all, we have never hidden our intention to start building

5670-413: The traditional relations of property and production. At the same time that it considers promotional measures for the development of the economic companies as such, the revolutionary legislation guarantees the gradual but sure access of all the workers to the profits, the direction and the property of the companies. In this way we promote the economic development of the country and, at the same time, we reform

5751-478: The two nations remained close allies. Relations between Peru and Chile were tense, as it was believed that one of Juan Velasco Alvarado 's main goals was to militarily reconquer the lands lost by Peru to Chile in the War of the Pacific . This, as well as Peru's purchases of military equipment from the Soviet Union were also cause for concern. Nevertheless, both countries never went to war. Relations between

5832-572: Was overthrown in 1975 by his prime minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez who took power to undo the socialist-leaning measures taken by Velasco. In 1978, the new government convened a Constituent Assembly , which promulgated a new constitution in 1979, as well as elections in 1980. In this way, the twelve-year military rule ended, and Fernando Belaúnde was returned to power. In the 1950s, several nationalist governments in Latin America began processes of social and economic modernization, promoting

5913-409: Was appointed special Ambassador to negotiate a solution and recommended against formal application of sanctions required by U.S. law. Eventually, the dispute was resolved in the context of a broader claims agreement so formulated as to permit Peru to maintain the position that it had not agreed to compensate IPC. US–Peru disagreements continued over a broad range of issues including even Peru's claim to

5994-430: Was changed to Peruvian Peasant's day ( Spanish : Día del Campesino ). Velasco saw the revolution as one that was opposed to both capitalism and communism, stating in a 1970 address that ...neither the conceptual starting point, nor the process of our revolutionary development, nor the final objective of the Revolution obey the traditional molds of the capitalist or communist systems. Communism and capitalism are not

6075-599: Was characterized by left-leaning policies, which aimed to create a strong national industry to increase the international independence of Peru. To that end, he nationalised entire industries, expropriated companies in a wide range of activities from fisheries to mining to telecommunications to power production and consolidated them into single industry-centric government-run entities and increased government control over economic activity by enforcing those entities as monopolies and disincentivized private activity in those sectors. Most reforms were planned by left-leaning intellectuals of

6156-569: Was one of the strongest armies in Latin America . It consisted of the Peruvian Army , Peruvian Air Force and the Peruvian Navy . it is estimated that from 1970 to 1975 Peru spent up to US$ 2 billion (roughly US$ 20 billion in 2010's valuation) on Soviet armament. According to various sources Velasco's government bought between 600 and 1,200 T-55 Main Battle Tanks, APCs , 60 to 90 Sukhoi 22 warplanes, 500,000 assault rifles, and even considered

6237-767: Was reelected. At the end of the military dictatorship, the growing problems with the payment of the foreign debt and the ineffectiveness of the State administration led to the appearance of symptoms of economic crisis and the incubation of social problems that in later years would increase . During the First Phase of the Revolutionary Government, there was a strong impulse of Peruvian cinema and literature . During this period, young Peruvian writers such as Mario Vargas Llosa , Alfredo Bryce Echenique and Julio Ramón Ribeyro , reached international recognition. In addition, important initiatives appeared that spread reading in Peru such as

6318-619: Was the first Latin American country to officialize an indigenous language. However, this law was never enforced and ceased to be valid when the 1979 constitution became effective, according to which Quechua and Aymara are official only where they predominate, as mandated by law – a law that was never enacted. Peruanismo was also characterized by authoritarianism, as the administration grew away from tolerating any level of dissent, periodically jailing, deporting and harassing suspected political opponents and repeatedly closing and censoring broadcast and print news media, finally expropriating all of

6399-529: Was the second-largest Land reform in Latin American history , after Cuba. The former landlords who opposed this program believed that they did not receive adequate compensation for their confiscated assets and lamented that the state officials and peasant beneficiaries mismanaged their properties after the expropriation. The owners who opposed his program also claimed that the expropriation was more akin to confiscation, as they were paid in agrarian reform bonds ,

6480-403: Was unable to continue in his functions. Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez was then appointed president, by unanimous decision of the new military junta. Prior to being deposed, Velasco had been seriously ill for at least a year. He had lost a leg to an embolism, and his cognitive abilities and personality were rumoured to have been affected by related circulatory problems. At the time of

6561-494: Was victorious, who defeated Haya, with a government plan that also proposed to reform the country and establish new contracts on the exploitation of natural resources, especially oil. Despite the determined support of the Armed Forces for the reforms promised by the new government, Belaúnde was unable to fulfill the promise of agrarian reform or to resolve the conflict over the ownership of Peruvian oil, among other reasons, due to

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