LUIS MIGUEL SÁNCHEZ CERRO: BIOGRAPHY AND GOVERNMENT - HISTORY - 2025

Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (1889-1933) was a military man and politician born in Peru in 1889. After several years of military career, he reached the presidency of the country through a coup in 1930. On that occasion, he was forced to leave office in March of the following year due to the economic situation and social protest.

That same year, Sánchez Cerro participated in the presidential elections. Despite the fact that his rivals denounced that fraud had been committed and did not know the result, the military regained the presidency of the country, this time in a constitutional manner.

Source: Toño Zapata, National Library of Peru - WikiCommons under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Sánchez Cerro's mandate had two totally opposite faces. On the one hand, it established a repressive regime against the political opposition, eliminating many public freedoms. On the other, it enjoyed a certain popularity and promulgated a series of measures that favored the popular classes. Many historians describe him as a follower of fascism.

The president failed to finish his term. In 1933, a sympathizer of the opposition party APRA assassinated Sánchez Cerro in Lima. One of the immediate consequences was the end of the conflict that Peru had started with Colombia over territorial issues.

Biography

Luís Miguel Sánchez Cerro was born on August 12, 1889 in the Peruvian town of Piura, into a middle-class family.

His mestizo, or cholo, physiognomy was one of the reasons why he gained popularity among large sectors of the population, although some theories maintain that he was Afro-Peruvian.

This last hypothesis comes from an urban legend that maintained that he was born in La Mangacheria, a neighborhood populated by descendants of slaves.

Join the Army

At the age of seventeen, in 1906, the young Luis Miguel left for Lima to enter the Military School of Chorrillos. In 1910, he graduated as an infantry second lieutenant.

His first destination was Sullana, in a regiment that protected the border with Ecuador. At that time, relations between the two countries were very tense and war was not ruled out. Ultimately this did not occur, and Sánchez Cerro was transferred, first, to Sicuani, in 1911, and, the following year, to Lima.

In 1914 he was part of the coup that ended the presidency of Guillermo Billinghurst. During the uprising, he suffered serious injuries, losing two fingers of his right hand. This earned him the nickname "el mocho".

After this, Sánchez was promoted to captain, although assigned to the General Staff. Experts point out that the commanders distrusted him and did not want to put him in command of the troops. In 1915, he lived in the United States for a few months, serving as a military deputy.

Back in Peru, he passed through various military destinations: Arequipa, Carabaya and, finally, to the Loreto garrison. There, near the border with Ecuador, he stood out for stopping, almost without help, the advance of 50 Ecuadorian soldiers.

First conspiracy against Leguía

Sánchez Cerro was promoted to major and assigned again to Arequipa and, later, to Sicuani in 1921. It was at this time that he was discovered participating in conspiratorial activities against the Leguía government. This earned him to be separated from his regiment and sent as a military judge to Cuzco.

In that city, Sánchez led a statement against the government, which was easily repressed. The military man spent time in prison and, upon leaving, was expelled from the army.

Sánchez Cerro suffered several financial penalties during that period. To survive, he dedicated himself to selling wood charcoal.

However, President Leguía agreed that he would return to the army, provided he desisted from his attempts to overthrow him. Thus, in 1924, Sánchez returned as an assistant in the Ministry of War and, later, was appointed head of a battalion of sappers that had risen in Pampas with the mission of disciplining the unit.

Sánchez went to Pampas alone, without reinforcements. Against the prognosis, he achieved his goal. However, political suspicions caused him to be separated from command of the battalion.

In Europe

After rejecting the post of provincial chief in Cajatambo, Sánchez was sent to Europe in August 1825, on a military study mission. Until 1929, he was in France and Italy, where he came into contact with fascism.

In January 1929, he returned to Peru and, according to historians, immediately began to prepare a new uprising against the government of Leguía, who had been in power for almost ten years.

For a few months, Sánchez behaved like an official loyal to the government, accepting various promotions and different assignments. However, the coup that would end the president soon began.

Coup d'état against Leguía

The coup began on August 22, 1930. That day, under the command of the Arequipa garrison, Sánchez Cerro rose up against the government of Augusto Leguía. In a short time, the uprising won support in other parts of the country, including the capital, Lima.

Leguía tried to form a military cabinet to save the situation, but the Lima garrison requested his resignation at dawn on the 25th. The president accepted and resigned from command.

At first, power was in the hands of a Military Junta, until, on the 27th, Gómez Cerro arrived in Lima by plane. Immediately, he formed a new Military Government Junta, with him in the presidency.

President of the Governing Board

The Junta chaired by Sánchez remained in charge of the country until March 1, 1931. The change of government did not manage to stabilize the country, plunged into an economic crisis born after the Great Depression of 1929. Prices rose continuously and the figures for unemployed did not stop growing.

This caused that diverse social sectors began to demonstrate. The left parties called on the workers to mobilize and the government reacted by harshly repressing them. In one of the demonstrations, a large number of deaths occurred at the hands of the police.

In Ayacucho, the confrontation pitted the police and indigenous people, while the students also took to the streets to protest, occupying the University of San Marcos.

Resignation

To all of the above, we must add the attempts to come to power by other military leaders participating in the coup against Leguía. In February 1931, a police and military uprising broke out in Callao, although it was defeated.

Sánchez Cerro, despite all his attempts to maintain power, had to resign after the popular uprising in Arequipa. Thus, the military left the presidency on March 1, 1931.

The Boards created later, as well as the presidents of the same, did not manage to calm the situation. Finally, the pressure of the people imposed David Samanez Ocampo as president of a National Government Junta. This pacified the country and Samanez took the opportunity to call elections for October 11, 1931.

Presidential election of 1931

The winner of the elections was Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro, who was sworn in in September of the same year.

The great losers were the APRA candidates. They accused Sánchez of electoral fraud, although with little evidence. Given this, the Apristas did not know the result and went to the opposition.

In order to compete in the elections, Sánchez had created a political party: the Revolutionary Union. This, considered a fascist ideology by many historians, achieved a majority in Parliament.

Constitutional President of the Republic (1931-1933)

The Sánchez Cerro government took office on December 8, 1931. One of its first decisions was to begin work to draft a new Constitution. This was promulgated on April 9, 1933.

The opposition of the Apristas and the very repressive character of the government made instability the main characteristic during this period.

Attempt

The bloody events that occurred in Peru in 1932 have caused it to be called the "Year of Barbarism." The serious political and economic crisis had plunged the country into instability.

Given this, Congress approved the Emergency Law, a set of legislative measures that gave the government special powers to repress opponents.

Among the events that marked that year, one is directly related to President Sánchez Cerro. On August 6, a young APRA member tried to shoot the politician to death. Despite a serious lung injury, the leader recovered in just one month.

War with Colombia

The delicate situation that the country was going through worsened even more when an incident with Colombia caused a state of war between the two countries.

The Peruvians mobilized their troops and several isolated battles took place. Total war seemed inevitable. Only the death of Sánchez Cerro prevented the conflict.

Murder

The president was in Lima, reviewing the troops destined to fight against the Colombian army, on the morning of April 30, 1933. When he was done, he proceeded to leave the scene using his convertible vehicle. At that moment, Abelardo Mendoza, an Aprista militant, fired several shots at him.

Although Sánchez Cerro managed to get to the hospital alive, at 1:10 pm, after two hours of agony, his death was certified.

Characteristics of his government

The characteristics of the Sánchez Cerro governments were linked to the personality of the president himself. Due to its popular and mestizo origin, it managed to be quite popular among a part of the population. However, its authoritarian character caused it to lose support.

Furthermore, it never managed to stabilize the country. During his stages as president, the political, social and economic crises were constant.

Third militarism

Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was the first of the presidents of the period called Third Militarism. This stage of Peruvian history is characterized by political violence and repression.

The most important parties were the APRA and the Revolutionary Union, created by Sánchez Cerro himself to stand in the 1931 elections.

Repression

The repression against opponents, mainly Apristas and Communists, marked the presidential term of Sánchez Cerro. In addition, it suspended immigration from Japan.

The president promulgated the so-called Emergency Law, a legal instrument to repress citizens. Once the law was passed in Parliament, eleven APRA parliamentarians were outraged.

Economic crisis

Although the economic crisis had already started before Sánchez Cerro's coup, his measures could never alleviate it. Peru, like the rest of the world, was affected by the Crack of 29, and saw how the raw materials it exported lost part of their value.

Despite the fact that Sánchez Cerro contacted the Kemmerer Mission, the national currency lost a good part of its value and tax revenues fell considerably. Faced with this, unemployment grew by leaps and bounds.

Instability

Political instability was a constant throughout the Sánchez Cerro government. The Communist Party and APRA called numerous strikes and attempts at revolution followed. The president suffered an assassination attempt and the ships anchored in Callao revolted.

In July 1932 the Trujillo Revolution took place, violently repressed. Later, in July of the following year, there was an uprising in Cajamarca, with the same result.

Conflict with Colombia

On September 1, 1932, a group of Peruvians residing in Leticia, a territory ceded by Peru to Colombia by the Salomón-Lozano Treaty of 1922, rose up against the Colombian authorities of the town. Before long, they controlled the entire town.

Both governments were surprised by this event. Colombia protested what happened and Peru reacted by supporting its citizens. Furthermore, the Peruvians wanted to recover the area ceded by the Leguía government.

The two countries began a series of diplomatic efforts, but, at the same time, they prepared for war. Although not in a generalized way, there were some armed clashes on the border.

Sánchez Cerro ordered the mobilization of 30,000 troops and dispatch them to the border. At the head of the troops he placed Oscar R. Benavides, who had already defeated the Colombians in 1911.

Just when it seemed that full conflict was inevitable, the murder of Sánchez Cerro changed the situation and war never broke out.

Government works

Despite all the instability and authoritarianism, the Sánchez Cerro government was able to carry out some important works.

Constitution of 1933

The 1933 Constitution was the main legislative inheritance left by Sánchez Cerro. The new Magna Carta was promulgated on April 9, 1933 and, according to experts, it was quite moderate and combined the presidential and parliamentary systems.

Among the most important articles was the limitation of presidential terms to 6 years and the prohibition of immediate reelection.

The legislative chambers had the power to overthrow the government and even to remove the president.

On the other hand, it granted some administrative autonomy to the municipalities, although it maintained centralism.

On the social front, the Constitution declared freedom of worship, incorporated habeas corpus, and established the death penalty for some crimes.

Economy

As noted above, the world crisis of 1929 hit Peru hard. By January 1932, the situation was, according to the Finance Minister himself, dire: the currency was hardly worth anything, unemployment was very high, and commerce and industry were suffocated.

The government tried to alleviate the situation by prohibiting the conversion of the currency, applying new direct taxes and unifying those of income.

Apart from this, the Kemmerer Mission recommended creating some institutions. The government listened to the experts and founded the mining and industrial banks, in order to promote the production of imported products.

Social

The government tried to stop migration from rural areas to cities. For that, he developed a series of projects so that the towns could see their needs covered.

Among these measures, the administration initiated colonization projects in the jungle and expanded the legislation in favor of the indigenous people.

In other respects, the Sánchez Cerro government granted the workers a paid day of rest for May 1. In addition, it established a summer schedule for workers, the right to workers' vacations and popular restaurants were built.

Infrastructures

During this period there was an improvement in the health, police and military infrastructures. On the other hand, many communication routes were built and the central highway was paved.

Educational and cultural policy

In January 1933, the Congress of Americanists declared Cuzco as the "Archaeological Capital of America."

In the educational field, some 90 modern schools were created, with a capacity for a thousand students each. Likewise, practical and specialized schools were also opened throughout the country.

However, the political activities carried out by the students and professors of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos caused the government to close it in 1932. The recess would last until 1935.

References

1. From Peru. Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro. Obtained from deperu.com
2. Biographies and Lives. Luis Sánchez Cerro. Obtained from biografiasyvidas.com
3. Historical Archive of El Comercio. Luis Sánchez Cerro: memories of an assassination 80 years ago. Obtained from elcomercio.pe
4. Javier Pulgar-Vidal, John Preston Moore. Peru. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. The Biography. Biography of Luis Sánchez Cerro (1889-1933). Retrieved from thebiography.us
6. Revolvy. Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro. Retrieved from revolvy.com
7. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Sánchez Cerro, Luis Manuel (1889-1933). Retrieved from encyclopedia.com