Valentín Paniagua
Encyclopedia
Valentín Paniagua Corazao (23 September 1936 – 16 October 2006) was a Peru
vian politician and former Interim President of Peru. Paniagua was elected by the Peruvian Congress to serve as interim president of the country after Alberto Fujimori
was ousted from office by Congress in November 2000.
As Interim President, his main task was to organize new elections, after which, in July 2001, he stood down from the presidency. Paniagua was a long time member and served as Secretary General of Acción Popular.
but lived most of his life in Peru
. Valentín Paniagua was born in Cusco
and attended high school at Salesian School of Cusco. Then, he went on to study law at the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cusco and later at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos
in Lima
. He finished there, specializing in constitutional law. In the following years, he worked in his private practice as a lawyer and started a political career.
In August 1955, as a student leader, he was one of the founders of the Frente Universitario Reformista Independiente, a social-Christian reform organization, opposed to landowners' rights, to the communists and to the APRA
. Paniagua became a member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), which was best aligned to his Roman Catholic and reformist ideals.
as a representative for Cusco in the joint list of Acción Popular (AP) and PDC, an alliance that catapulted the leader of AP, Fernando Belaúnde
, to the presidency of the country. Despite Paniagua's youth, Belaúnde appointed him Minister of Justice and Cult in his first government.
In 1966, a section of the PDC led by the then-mayor of Lima, Luis Bedoya Reyes, cut ties with the leadership of Héctor Cornejo Chávez and founded the Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC). However, Paniagua remained in the ranks of the government.
The coup d'état
of General Juan Velasco
on October 3, 1968, took Paniagua out of Congress and for some years he was left out of politics. His loyalty to the constitutional legality of Belaúnde led him to abandon the PDC on July 27, 1974, in protest of its acceptance of the military government. Some time later he became a member of AP, and kept on a civil protest against Velasco and his 1975 successor, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez
.
In the elections of May 18, 1980, he was re-elected to Congress, and his party boss, Belaúnde, won his second presidency.
In July 1982, after being part of the Constitutional Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, he became president of the Chamber of Deputies.
On May 10, 1985, he became Minister of Education. In October of that year he resigned to return to his parliamentary activities. He was given the Orden del Sol in the Gran Cruz grade.
The defeat of AP in the April 14, 1985 elections and arrival to power of Alan García's APRA
sent Paniagua to the opposition. Over the following five years he remained a strong foe of the government and worked as a prestigious lawyer in academic and political circles, as well as a professor of constitutional law at the universities of San Marcos
, Femenina del Sagrado Corazón and Pontificia Católica
.
In the national elections of 1990, together with most of Acción Popular, Paniagua supported the candidacy of Mario Vargas Llosa
for president. When Alberto Fujimori
was elected President, Paniagua was part of the opposition, but became a strong opponent after Fujimori's auto-coup in April 1992.
On September 14, the nation was rocked by evidence that Fujimori's security chief, Vladimiro Montesinos
, had bribed an opposition congressman to switch to Fujimori's party, Perú 2000
. Fujimori's support evaporated at this point, and he was forced to announce he would step down after new presidential elections in 2001. An OAS mission was sent to deal with the political crisis.
Fujimori's allies lost control of Congress after numerous defections to the opposition. On November 15, 2000, a majority of the Congress dismissed the acting President of the Peruvian Congress, a Fujimori supporter. After an internal discussion among the political forces, Paniagua was elected the new President of the Peruvian Congress. He was elected because all parties considered him to have a fair but strong character, needed in such times of crisis.
A few days later, Fujimori submitted his resignation by fax. However, Congress voted 62-9 to reject Fujimori's resignation and remove him from office on grounds that he was "permanently morally unfit." According to the line of succession, First Vice President Francisco Tudela should have succeeded to the presidency, but he had also resigned a few days before. The Second Vice President Ricardo Márquez
then claimed the presidency. However, Congress refused to recognize him since he was one of the few who were still loyal to Fujimori. When it became apparent that Congress would not allow Márquez to take office, he resigned as well. Therefore, as acting President of Congress and next in the line of succession, Paniagua became acting president.
One of his first actions as president was the appointment of Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order to avoid the increasing political pressure from the different political parties.
Another action was the establishment of a Unity and National Reconciliation Government that received the support of almost all the political parties of the time. He then proceeded to form a moderate government cabinet, which involved non-partisan technologists and low-profile politicians. He also proceeded with the removal of the military commanders who had had any type of involvement with or political connection to Vladimiro Montesinos
.
Paniagua had to work with Fujimori's Perú 2000
party in Congress, since it still was the most important political organization (even though it no longer had a majority). Additionally, during most of his period, an important number of the infamous Vladivideos were published and investigated, since most of them recorded acts of corruption involving politicians, members of the clergy and important businessmen.
Paniagua was also involved in the repeal of much of the anti-terrorist legislation enforced by Fujimori, which included trials by faceless judges and juries. This allowed the re-trial of several members of Shining Path
, who were already in prison, in civilian courts instead of military ones. Paniagua also established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
to investigate the internal conflict in Peru
.
. In the same year, he was elected Secretary General of Acción Popular, replacing Fernando Belaúnde
as the national leader of the political organization.
For a brief period of time, it was speculated that the Peruvian government would support his candidacy for Secretary General of the Organization of American States
(OAS) in the 2005 Secretary General election
. He declined this in order to participate in the 2006 election
, as Frente de Centro
's presidential candidate in an unsuccessful campaign, in which he came in fifth place, receiving 5.75% of the vote.
He became a member of the Club of Madrid
http://www.clubmadrid.org.
On 21 August 2006, he fell seriously ill and was hospitalized for a week with a respiratory infection. A congressman wrongly reported that he had died and Congress observed a moment of silence in his honor, but he had not died and his health had in fact improved. However, in early October 2006, the country learned from a medical spokesperson that Mr. Paniagua's condition had not improved significantly.
Valentín Paniagua died in the early hours of October 16, 2006 in a hospital in Lima.
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 politician and former Interim President of Peru. Paniagua was elected by the Peruvian Congress to serve as interim president of the country after Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
was ousted from office by Congress in November 2000.
As Interim President, his main task was to organize new elections, after which, in July 2001, he stood down from the presidency. Paniagua was a long time member and served as Secretary General of Acción Popular.
Early years
Paniagua's father was born in BoliviaBolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
but lived most of his life in 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....
. Valentín Paniagua was born in Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...
and attended high school at Salesian School of Cusco. Then, he went on to study law at the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cusco and later at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos
National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos is the most important and respected higher-education institution in Peru. Its main campus, the University City, is located in Lima...
in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
. He finished there, specializing in constitutional law. In the following years, he worked in his private practice as a lawyer and started a political career.
In August 1955, as a student leader, he was one of the founders of the Frente Universitario Reformista Independiente, a social-Christian reform organization, opposed to landowners' rights, to the communists and to the APRA
American 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...
. Paniagua became a member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), which was best aligned to his Roman Catholic and reformist ideals.
Political career
In June 1963 he was elected to CongressCongress of Peru
The Congress of the Republic of Peru or the National Congress of Peru is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru.Congress consists of 130 members of congress , who are elected for five year periods in office on a proportional representation basis...
as a representative for Cusco in the joint list of Acción Popular (AP) and PDC, an alliance that catapulted the leader of AP, 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...
, to the presidency of the country. Despite Paniagua's youth, Belaúnde appointed him Minister of Justice and Cult in his first government.
In 1966, a section of the PDC led by the then-mayor of Lima, Luis Bedoya Reyes, cut ties with the leadership of Héctor Cornejo Chávez and founded the Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC). However, Paniagua remained in the ranks of the government.
The coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of General Juan Velasco
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a left-leaning Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."- Early life :...
on October 3, 1968, took Paniagua out of Congress and for some years he was left out of politics. His loyalty to the constitutional legality of Belaúnde led him to abandon the PDC on July 27, 1974, in protest of its acceptance of the military government. Some time later he became a member of AP, and kept on a civil protest against Velasco and his 1975 successor, General 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...
.
In the elections of May 18, 1980, he was re-elected to Congress, and his party boss, Belaúnde, won his second presidency.
In July 1982, after being part of the Constitutional Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, he became president of the Chamber of Deputies.
On May 10, 1985, he became Minister of Education. In October of that year he resigned to return to his parliamentary activities. He was given the Orden del Sol in the Gran Cruz grade.
The defeat of AP in the April 14, 1985 elections and arrival to power of Alan García's APRA
American 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...
sent Paniagua to the opposition. Over the following five years he remained a strong foe of the government and worked as a prestigious lawyer in academic and political circles, as well as a professor of constitutional law at the universities of San Marcos
National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos is the most important and respected higher-education institution in Peru. Its main campus, the University City, is located in Lima...
, Femenina del Sagrado Corazón and Pontificia Católica
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 by F. Jorge Dintilhac SS.CC. as Peru's first non-profit private institution of higher learning. Academically, PUCP ranks second in Peru, behind the National University of San Marcos.-History:The...
.
In the national elections of 1990, together with most of Acción Popular, Paniagua supported the candidacy of Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
for president. When Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
was elected President, Paniagua was part of the opposition, but became a strong opponent after Fujimori's auto-coup in April 1992.
Presidency
Fujimori was reelected once again in the controversial national elections of 2000. Paniagua was a prominent member of the opposition.On September 14, the nation was rocked by evidence that Fujimori's security chief, Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...
, had bribed an opposition congressman to switch to Fujimori's party, Perú 2000
Peru 2000
Peru 2000 was a Right-wing, political party in Peru that fielded candidates in the 2000 elections in Peru. Alberto Fujimori and his political allies ran on the Peru 2000 ticket....
. Fujimori's support evaporated at this point, and he was forced to announce he would step down after new presidential elections in 2001. An OAS mission was sent to deal with the political crisis.
Fujimori's allies lost control of Congress after numerous defections to the opposition. On November 15, 2000, a majority of the Congress dismissed the acting President of the Peruvian Congress, a Fujimori supporter. After an internal discussion among the political forces, Paniagua was elected the new President of the Peruvian Congress. He was elected because all parties considered him to have a fair but strong character, needed in such times of crisis.
A few days later, Fujimori submitted his resignation by fax. However, Congress voted 62-9 to reject Fujimori's resignation and remove him from office on grounds that he was "permanently morally unfit." According to the line of succession, First Vice President Francisco Tudela should have succeeded to the presidency, but he had also resigned a few days before. The Second Vice President Ricardo Márquez
Ricardo Marquez
José Ricardo Marquez is a Salvadoran-Canadian professional soccer player currently playing for WSA Winnipeg.- Career :...
then claimed the presidency. However, Congress refused to recognize him since he was one of the few who were still loyal to Fujimori. When it became apparent that Congress would not allow Márquez to take office, he resigned as well. Therefore, as acting President of Congress and next in the line of succession, Paniagua became acting president.
One of his first actions as president was the appointment of Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order to avoid the increasing political pressure from the different political parties.
Another action was the establishment of a Unity and National Reconciliation Government that received the support of almost all the political parties of the time. He then proceeded to form a moderate government cabinet, which involved non-partisan technologists and low-profile politicians. He also proceeded with the removal of the military commanders who had had any type of involvement with or political connection to Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...
.
Paniagua had to work with Fujimori's Perú 2000
Peru 2000
Peru 2000 was a Right-wing, political party in Peru that fielded candidates in the 2000 elections in Peru. Alberto Fujimori and his political allies ran on the Peru 2000 ticket....
party in Congress, since it still was the most important political organization (even though it no longer had a majority). Additionally, during most of his period, an important number of the infamous Vladivideos were published and investigated, since most of them recorded acts of corruption involving politicians, members of the clergy and important businessmen.
Paniagua was also involved in the repeal of much of the anti-terrorist legislation enforced by Fujimori, which included trials by faceless judges and juries. This allowed the re-trial of several members of Shining Path
Shining Path
Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla terrorist organization in Peru. The group never refers to itself as "Shining Path", and as several other Peruvian groups, prefers to be called the "Communist Party of Peru" or "PCP-SL" in short...
, who were already in prison, in civilian courts instead of military ones. Paniagua also established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Peru)
The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2001 after the fall of president Alberto Fujimori, to examine abuses committed during the 1980s and 1990s, when Peru was plagued by the worst political violence in the history of the republic...
to investigate the internal conflict in Peru
Internal conflict in Peru
It has been estimated that nearly 70,000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and, although still ongoing, had greatly wound down by 2000. The principal actors in the war were the Shining Path , the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the government of Peru.A great...
.
Later years and death
When his time as President of the Republic came to an end, he transferred the government to the democratically-elected president and winner of the national elections of 2001, Alejandro ToledoAlejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García...
. In the same year, he was elected Secretary General of Acción Popular, replacing 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...
as the national leader of the political organization.
For a brief period of time, it was speculated that the Peruvian government would support his candidacy for Secretary General of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(OAS) in the 2005 Secretary General election
OAS Secretary General election, 2005
The Organization of American States Secretary General election was a series of special sessions of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States held during 2005 in Washington, D.C., United States to elect a new Secretary General...
. He declined this in order to participate in the 2006 election
Peruvian national election, 2006
The first round of the 2006 Peruvian national election was held on April 9, 2006 to elect the President of the Republic, two Vice-Presidents, 120 Members of Congress, and five Peruvian members of the Andean Parliament , for the 2006-2011 period.No single presidential ticket obtained more than half...
, as Frente de Centro
Center Front
The Center Front was a Peruvian political coalition formed by the parties Acción Popular , Somos Perú and Coordinadora Nacional de Independientes for the 2006 national election...
's presidential candidate in an unsuccessful campaign, in which he came in fifth place, receiving 5.75% of the vote.
He became a member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
http://www.clubmadrid.org.
On 21 August 2006, he fell seriously ill and was hospitalized for a week with a respiratory infection. A congressman wrongly reported that he had died and Congress observed a moment of silence in his honor, but he had not died and his health had in fact improved. However, in early October 2006, the country learned from a medical spokesperson that Mr. Paniagua's condition had not improved significantly.
Valentín Paniagua died in the early hours of October 16, 2006 in a hospital in Lima.