The great Inca civilization was located in Peru and then conquered by the Spanish. Peru became a Spanish colony in 1541 and the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, was killed in 1572. In 1821 Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin declared Peruvian independence. After several battles, the Republic of Peru was established in 1824.
In the years after Bolivar’s departure for Gran Colombia in 1826, Peru was ruled by a series of high-ranking military veterans. The government turnover was frequent and led to a lack of stability and a weak government who could not deal with the country’s problems.
From 1879 to 1883 Peru fought the War of the Pacific with Chile but was eventually defeated and left financially drained. Peru was then ruled by a series of dictators.
The first half of the 20th century was the emergence of military involvement in government. There was a recurrence of elections without any clear winners and as a result, instead of a democratically elected government, the military would take over.
In 1924 the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) was formed by a group of exiled Peruvians and led by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre. The party called for basic reforms to living conditions, especially for the indigenous population. The first APRA president, Bustamante, instituted some liberal reforms: civil rights, freedom of the press and the abolishment of certain dictatorial powers of the president. Their reforms were overthrown with the coup d’etat of 1948. The APRA was banned by the Peruvian government for many years.
Fernando Belaunde Terry was President of Peru for two terms (1963-68 and 1980-85). He was deposed by a military coup in 1968 by General Velasco and re-elected in 1980. During both terms, economic turbulence and the increase of guerilla activities in the country led to human rights violations by both insurgents and the Peruvian armed forces. The rural Indians wanted land reforms as 1% of the landowners controlled 80% of the usable land. Terry was unable to fulfill his campaign promises of land reform and was overthrown in 1968. Re-elected after 12 years of military rule, Terry found the problems in Peru worse than in the 1960’s and his popularity once again declined under the pressure of increased inflation, economic hardship (prices for exports plummeted, the debt increased, and agricultural production declined), and violence by terrorism (leftist insurgents like the Shining Path). Terry lost the next election in 1985. Terry was however, admired for his personal integrity and his commitment to the democratic process.
In October 1968, under the leadership of General Juan Velasco Alvarado, the military deposed of President Fernando Belaunde Terry. Terry had not kept his campaign promises from 1963. General Velasco had several major accomplishments: land reform (land expropriation and investment into the rural infrastructure led to a modest increase in agricultural production), larger role of the State in the economy including the nationalization of major resources (petroleum, copper and sugar), and challenging the power of the traditional elites. Although he had accomplishments, General Velasco did not completely restructure the nation and he did not receive popular support. Therefore, General Velasco was still overthrown in a bloodless military coup in September 1975. Most of his reforms withered away under the following government.
The frequency of military involvement in the government became very notable during this time. When the military became involved in government, it would usually appoint a high-ranking general, such as Velasco, Perez or Bermudez, to the office of president. Being in the military, however, did not mean that one would be immune to being overthrown by the military, as shown in the end of Velasco’s reign.
Two guerilla organizations came to the forefront in the early 1980s due to the economic deterioration and social tension. Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path was founded as an offshoot of the Peruvian Communist Party in 1970 by Abimael Guzman Reynoso. Its ideology was influenced by the ideas of Maoism and was dedicated to creating a classless society through the use of violence. Originally a political party, the group turned to terrorism in the 1980’s and then to urban terrorism in the late 1980’s. After the installation of martial law by Fujimori in 1992, Guzman was captured and the group became quieter.
The Tupac Amaru was a small guerilla revolutionary group. This group’s ideology was inspired by Fidel Castro’s Cuba. They focused on urban warfare to gain notoriety for their ideas. Their leader, Victor Polay, was captured in 1992. The group became quieter and were believed to have been hiding in the jungle.
In a surprising upset in 1990, Alberto Fujimori was elected president of Peru. The problems he had to deal with were hyperinflation, which led to economic hardship. Fujimori announced his program known as ‘Fujishock’ which eliminated subsidies, lowered tariffs and welcomed foreign investment. This did not benefit the economy. The economic problems led to an increase in terrorist activities by the Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path. Democracy under Fujimori began to disappear and he moved toward autocratic leadership. In April 1992, Fujimori suspended parts of the constitution and took control of the government, after alleging that his efforts to suppress the drug trade and terrorism were being impeded by the actions of the congress and the courts. In 1 993, Fujimori won a referendum to accept a new constitution that increased presidential power, changed the legislature from two to one house, and allowed Fujimori to run for a second term in 1995. Fujimori’s government managed to capture key members of the Shining Path movement, as well as settling a series of skirmishes along a section of the border with Ecuador. After being re-elected in 1995,
Fujimori announced a blanket amnesty absolving military personnel or civilians for all human rights abuses that may have been committed between 1980 and 1985. The Peruvian government also received condemnation from the United States government for arresting 23 people, one a U.S. citizen, claiming them to be members of the Tupac Amaru. All were convicted in a show-trial. Again the Peruvian government received condemnation from the US government and the international human rights groups. In 2000, Fujimori fled to Japan due to a corruption scandal and attempted to resign. Fujimori’s resignation as President was declined and he was instead removed by impeachment.