Juan Velasco Alvarado
Encyclopedia
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a left
-leaning Peru
vian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."
, a city on Peru's north coast. He was the son of Manuel José Velasco, a medical assistance, and Clara Luz Alvarado, who had 11 children. Velasco described his youth as one of "dignified poverty, working as a shoeshine boy in Piura."
He was married to Consuelo Gonzáles Arriola, and had four children.
In 1929, he stowed away on a ship to Lima, Peru, falsified his age, and joined the Peruvian Army
as a private on April 5, 1929. He then took a competitive exam for entrance into the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos ("Chorrillos Military School
"), and got the highest score of all applicants. In 1934, he graduated with high honors and at the head of his class.
-UNO coalition, and even between the President and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party were common.
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 a contract (the 11th) was found missing. This proved the catalyst that allowed Armed Forces
to seize 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 the Armed Forces. President Belaúnde was sent into exile. Initial reaction against the coup evaporated after five days when October 8 the oil fields in dispute were taken over by the Army.
, SiderPeru
,Centromin Peru, ElectroPeru, Enapu, EnatruPeru, Enafer, Compañia Peruana de Telefonos (CPT), EntelPeru, Correos del Peru, etc.), and increased government control over economic activity by enforcing those entities as monopolies and preventing any private activity in those sectors. The media became more open to left-wing intellectuals and politicos. 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 vindicated and the Día del Indio or Peruvian Indian's day name was changed to Día del Campesino or Peruvian Peasant's day every June 24, a traditional holiday of the land, the day of winter solstice
.
The education reform of 1972 provided for bilingual education
of 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 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.
It was also characterised by the increasing use of authoritarian powers, 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 the newspapers in 1974 and sending the publishers into exile.
A cornerstone of his political and economic strategy was the implementation by dictat of an agrarian reform
program to expropriate farms and diversify land ownership, much of which had been concentrated in Haciendas' owned by a small percentage of the population who previously had acted like feudal lords and paid starvation wages to the surrounding campesinos who worked on the haciendas; these owners who opposed his program claimed that the expropriation was more akin to confiscation, as they were paid in non-tradable bonds
that would eventually become worthless by the government's inflationary policies. Needless to say that only less than 2% of the Peruvian territory is farmable land; 98% of the territory is arid desert with little rain; harsh mountains with very steep terrain; or wild amazon forest.
The deposed Belaúnde administration had attempted to implement a milder agrarian reform program, but it had been defeated in Congress by the APRA-UNO coalition with support of the major landowners. Within this framework, the Velasco administration engaged in an aggressive program of import substitution industrialization, imposing tight foreign exchange and trade controls.
In foreign policy, in contrast with his 1970s Latin American contemporaries, which were mostly right-wing military dictatorships, he pursued 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 during Velasco's time in government beginning with the expropriation of the International Petroleum Company (IPC), a subsidiary of Standard Oil
, five days after Velasco seized power in 1968. Although the claims over the IPC were ultimately resolved in negotiations between the two governments, disagreements continued over such issues as Peru's claim to 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. In 1973, Velasco announced during a press conference when questioned about Soviet military advisors in Peru, that the United States Peace Corps
was being expelled from Peru.
Economically, the Velasco administration's policies were ultimately unsuccessful. The government ran deeper into debt and was forced to devalue the currency and ran inflationary policies.
Fisheries and agriculture were particularly visible failures; PescaPeru aggressively overfished the anchoveta, a fish used primarily as material for fishmeal production and a key element in the Peruvian sea ecosystem, which resulted in record production for a couple of years but combined with an El Niño event in 1972 led to an absolute collapse that would take over a decade to partially recover, while the badly mismanaged agrarian reform resulted in the creation of thousands of capital-poor and mostly uneducated small farmers whose production and distribution capacity fell substantially short of the pre-reform production. This, coupled with the trade restrictions, led to periodic shortages, rationing, and increased social unrest.
in the War of the Pacific
.
It is estimated that from 1970 to 1975 Peru spent up to 2 Billion USD on Soviet armament. According to various sources Velasco's government bought between 600 to 1200 T-55
Main Battle Tanks, APC
`s, 60 to 90 Sukhoi 22 warplanes, 500,000 assault rifles, and even considered the purchase of a British carrier Centaur-class
light fleet carrier
HMS Bulwark
.
3.
The enormous amount of weaponry purchased by Peru caused a meeting between former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
and Chilean president, general and US-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet
in 1976. Velasco's military plan was to launch a massive sea, air, and land invasion against Chile. At that time Chile was almost broke financially and even in 1999 General Pinochet claimed that if Peru attacked Chile during 1975, Peruvian forces could have penetrated deep into Chilean territory all the way to Copiapó
city located half way to Santiago. To defend itself the launching of a preventive war
was considered by the Chilean Armed Forces. Though, 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.
The D-Day for a Peruvian attack was supposed to be on October 5, 1975.
Alvarado has stated the government never had any intentions of attacking Chile at all, and that the military exercises were merely defensive. They informed of their border exercises to Chilean army and authorities.
Some analysts believe the fear of attack by Chilean and US officials as largely unjustified but logical for them to think that considering that the Pinochet dictatorship had come into power last year 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.
, nicknamed El 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 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 the coup, he was convalescing in the Presidential winter residence at Chaclacayo
, countryside 20 kilometers east of Lima.
General Velasco 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 a low profile in Peruvian politics until his death in 1977. On his death, Velasco was carried on the shoulders of campesinos for six hours around Lima, to show their respect and gratitude for his efforts on their behalf.
"Chileans should stop with the bullshit or tomorrow I shall eat breakfast in [invade] Santiago"
"¡Campesino, el patrón no comerá más de tu pobreza!"
" Peasant, the land owner will never again feed off your poverty!"
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
-leaning Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."
Early life
Juan Velasco was born on June 16, 1910 in Castilla, which is near PiuraPiura
Piura is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. The population is 377,496.It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the third Spanish city in South America and first in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, in July 1532...
, a city on Peru's north coast. He was the son of Manuel José Velasco, a medical assistance, and Clara Luz Alvarado, who had 11 children. Velasco described his youth as one of "dignified poverty, working as a shoeshine boy in Piura."
He was married to Consuelo Gonzáles Arriola, and had four children.
In 1929, he stowed away on a ship to Lima, Peru, falsified his age, and joined the Peruvian Army
Peruvian Army
The Peruvian Army is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding internal security, conducting disaster relief operations...
as a private on April 5, 1929. He then took a competitive exam for entrance into the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos ("Chorrillos Military School
Chorrillos Military School
The Chorrillos Military School is the institution in charge of the undergraduate education of officers of the Peruvian Army. It is located at Chorrillos, Lima, Peru, hence its name. Its current director is Brigade General Walter Martos Ruiz. It was also the alma mater of Manuel Noriega....
"), and got the highest score of all applicants. In 1934, he graduated with high honors and at the head of his class.
Coup d'Etat against President Fernando Belaunde.
During the Belaúnde administration, 1963 - 1968 political disputes became a norm as he held no majority in Congress. Serious arguments between President Belaúnde and Congress, dominated by the APRAAmerican Popular Revolutionary Alliance
The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana is a centre-left Peruvian political party.At the legislative elections held on 9 April 2006, the party won 22.6% of the popular vote and 36 out of 120 seats in the Congress of the Republic...
-UNO coalition, and even between the President and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party were common.
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 a contract (the 11th) was found missing. This proved the catalyst that allowed Armed Forces
Military of Peru
The Peruvian Armed Forces are the military services of Peru, comprising independent Army, Navy and Air Force components. Their primary mission is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threat...
to seize 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
Fernando Belaúnde Terry
Fernando Belaúnde Terry was President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms . Deposed by a military coup in 1968, he was re-elected in 1980 after eleven years of military rule...
, under which he served as Commander of the Armed Forces. President Belaúnde was sent into exile. Initial reaction against the coup evaporated after five days when October 8 the oil fields in dispute were taken over by the Army.
Military revolution and dictatorship (1968-1975)
The coup leaders named their administration the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, with Velasco at its helm as President. Velasco's rule was driven by a desire to give justice to the poor and became known as Peruanismo. It was characterized by left-leaning policies, as 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 (PescaPeru, MineroPeru, PetroperúPetroperu
Petróleos del Perú S.A. is a Peruvian state-owned petroleum company. Its activities include transport, refinery and commercialization of fuel and other oil derivatives...
, SiderPeru
SIDERPERU
SIDERPERU is a Peruvian steel and iron company controlled by Gerdau, a Brazilian siderurgy company. The company was founded in 1956 in Chimbote city....
,Centromin Peru, ElectroPeru, Enapu, EnatruPeru, Enafer, Compañia Peruana de Telefonos (CPT), EntelPeru, Correos del Peru, etc.), and increased government control over economic activity by enforcing those entities as monopolies and preventing any private activity in those sectors. The media became more open to left-wing intellectuals and politicos. 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 vindicated and the Día del Indio or Peruvian Indian's day name was changed to Día del Campesino or Peruvian Peasant's day every June 24, a traditional holiday of the land, the day of winter solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
.
The education reform of 1972 provided for bilingual education
Intercultural bilingual education
Intercultural bilingual education or bilingual intercultural education is an intercultural and bilingual model of education designed for contexts with two cultures and languages in contact, in the typical case a dominant and an underprivileged culture...
of the indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
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 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.
It was also characterised by the increasing use of authoritarian powers, 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 the newspapers in 1974 and sending the publishers into exile.
A cornerstone of his political and economic strategy was the implementation by dictat of an agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
program to expropriate farms and diversify land ownership, much of which had been concentrated in Haciendas' owned by a small percentage of the population who previously had acted like feudal lords and paid starvation wages to the surrounding campesinos who worked on the haciendas; these owners who opposed his program claimed that the expropriation was more akin to confiscation, as they were paid in non-tradable bonds
Government bond
A government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's own currency. Bonds are debt investments whereby an investor loans a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of time, with a certain interest rate, to a company or country...
that would eventually become worthless by the government's inflationary policies. Needless to say that only less than 2% of the Peruvian territory is farmable land; 98% of the territory is arid desert with little rain; harsh mountains with very steep terrain; or wild amazon forest.
The deposed Belaúnde administration had attempted to implement a milder agrarian reform program, but it had been defeated in Congress by the APRA-UNO coalition with support of the major landowners. Within this framework, the Velasco administration engaged in an aggressive program of import substitution industrialization, imposing tight foreign exchange and trade controls.
In foreign policy, in contrast with his 1970s Latin American contemporaries, which were mostly right-wing military dictatorships, he pursued a partnership with the Soviet bloc, tightening relations with Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and undertaking major purchases of Soviet military hardware.
Relations between the United States and Peru were tense during Velasco's time in government beginning with the expropriation of the International Petroleum Company (IPC), a subsidiary of Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
, five days after Velasco seized power in 1968. Although the claims over the IPC were ultimately resolved in negotiations between the two governments, disagreements continued over such issues as Peru's claim to 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. In 1973, Velasco announced during a press conference when questioned about Soviet military advisors in Peru, that the United States Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
was being expelled from Peru.
Economically, the Velasco administration's policies were ultimately unsuccessful. The government ran deeper into debt and was forced to devalue the currency and ran inflationary policies.
Fisheries and agriculture were particularly visible failures; PescaPeru aggressively overfished the anchoveta, a fish used primarily as material for fishmeal production and a key element in the Peruvian sea ecosystem, which resulted in record production for a couple of years but combined with an El Niño event in 1972 led to an absolute collapse that would take over a decade to partially recover, while the badly mismanaged agrarian reform resulted in the creation of thousands of capital-poor and mostly uneducated small farmers whose production and distribution capacity fell substantially short of the pre-reform production. This, coupled with the trade restrictions, led to periodic shortages, rationing, and increased social unrest.
Foreign and military policies
General Velasco's other main goal besides the nationalization of the main areas of the Peruvian economy and the agrarial reforms, was to militarily reconquer the lands lost by Peru to ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
in the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
.
It is estimated that from 1970 to 1975 Peru spent up to 2 Billion USD on Soviet armament. According to various sources Velasco's government bought between 600 to 1200 T-55
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...
Main Battle Tanks, APC
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
`s, 60 to 90 Sukhoi 22 warplanes, 500,000 assault rifles, and even considered the purchase of a British carrier Centaur-class
Centaur class aircraft carrier
The Centaur class of aircraft carriers of the British Royal Navy was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II.-Ships In Class:HMS Centaur...
light fleet carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
HMS Bulwark
HMS Bulwark (R08)
The sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier.-Construction:Bulwark was laid down by the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast on 10 May 1945...
.
3.
The enormous amount of weaponry purchased by Peru caused a meeting between former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
and Chilean president, general and US-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
in 1976. Velasco's military plan was to launch a massive sea, air, and land invasion against Chile. At that time Chile was almost broke financially and even in 1999 General Pinochet claimed that if Peru attacked Chile during 1975, Peruvian forces could have penetrated deep into Chilean territory all the way to Copiapó
Copiapó
Copiapó is a city in northern Chile, located about 40 miles east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region....
city located half way to Santiago. To defend itself the launching of a preventive war
Preventive war
A preventive war or preventative war is a war initiated to prevent another party from attacking, when an attack by that party is not imminent or known to be planned. Preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power by strategically attacking before the balance of power has a chance...
was considered by the Chilean Armed Forces. Though, Chilean Air Force General Fernando Matthei
Fernando Matthei
Fernando Matthei Aubel is a retired Chilean Air Force General that was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, after Gustavo Leigh was dismissed in 1978. Before he became a junta member, Matthei was Minister of Health of the military government...
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.
The D-Day for a Peruvian attack was supposed to be on October 5, 1975.
Alvarado has stated the government never had any intentions of attacking Chile at all, and that the military exercises were merely defensive. They informed of their border exercises to Chilean army and authorities.
Some analysts believe the fear of attack by Chilean and US officials as largely unjustified but logical for them to think that considering that the Pinochet dictatorship had come into power last year with a coup against democratically elected president Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
. 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.
Overthrow
Economic difficulties such as inflation, unemployment, food shortages (arising from the unsuccessful new socialist economic policies), and increased political opposition after 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 TacnaTacna
- Rail :Tacna is served by a cross-border standard gauge railway to Arica, Chile.It is also the location of the National Railway Museum of Peru.-Air:Tacna is served by the Crnl. FAP...
, nicknamed El Tacnazo
Tacnazo
El Tacnazo was a military coup launched by then Peruvian Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez against the administration of President Juan Velasco Alvarado in 1975...
.
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 was unable to continue in his functions. Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez
Francisco Morales Bermúdez
Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti is a Peruvian general who came to power in Peru in 1975 after deposing his predecessor, General Juan Velasco. His grandfather and all his original family were from the old Peruvian department of Tarapacá, which is now part of the Chilean territory...
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 the coup, he was convalescing in the Presidential winter residence at Chaclacayo
Chaclacayo
-Location:Chaclacayo is located at the 27th km mark of the Carretera Central, the main road headed East starting in the Lima urban center.-Geography:Chaclacayo is a city in the valley of the Rímac River that runs from the Peruvian Andes to the Pacific Ocean...
, countryside 20 kilometers east of Lima.
General Velasco 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 a low profile in Peruvian politics until his death in 1977. On his death, Velasco was carried on the shoulders of campesinos for six hours around Lima, to show their respect and gratitude for his efforts on their behalf.
Remarks
"Que los chilenos se dejen de cojudeces o mañana desayuno en Santiago""Chileans should stop with the bullshit or tomorrow I shall eat breakfast in [invade] Santiago"
"¡Campesino, el patrón no comerá más de tu pobreza!"
" Peasant, the land owner will never again feed off your poverty!"