SECOND GOVERNMENT OF FERNANDO BELAÚNDE: BACKGROUND, CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2025

The second government of Fernando Belaúnde took place in Peru between 1980 and 1985. His coming to power meant the end of a 12-year period with a military government in the country. Two years earlier, constituent elections had been held that marked the return to the multi-party system.

After the Constitution was promulgated in 1979, elections were called to elect a new parliament and the president. The winner of the latter was Fernando Belaúnde, candidate of the Popular Action party, founded by himself in 1956.

Fernando Belaúnde - Source: General Historical Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Chile license

Belaúnde had already held the presidency of Peru in the period 1963-1968. A few months after his term ended, his government was overthrown by a military coup led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado, forcing the president to go into exile.

After his return and back to the presidency, one of his first measures was to restore freedom of the press in the country. Likewise, it had to face the serious economic crisis that hit all of Latin America during that time. The conflict with Ecuador and the Shining Path's terrorist activity were two of the most difficult challenges for Belaúnde.

Background

Fernando Belaunde Terry came to the world in the city of Lima on October 7, 1912. Apart from his political activity, his career was closely linked to teaching. In 1963 he won the presidential elections, after having run for office on two previous occasions.

As planned, his mandate was to end in 1969. However, in October of the previous year, a military coup ended his government. General Juan Velasco Alvarado presented as an excuse for the coup that Belaúnde had reached non-beneficial agreements with international capital, in addition to not having carried out social reforms.

Belaúnde had tried to resolve the problems that had arisen with the International Petroleum Company, a US company present in Peru. To do this, it signed an agreement called the Talara Act, which was described by the opposition as a surrender.

That was the main pretext for the coup, although, really, it had been in the works for quite some time.

Belaúnde was deported to Argentina and later moved to the United States. There he worked as a professor at several prestigious universities.

Return to Peru

The politician tried to return to Peru in 1974, with the military dictatorship still present. However, it would not be until 1978 when he was able to return to the country.

By that date, the military government had experienced an internal coup, with General Francisco Morales Bermúdez at the head. This one had tried to develop a reformist policy, but, before its failure, it summoned constituent elections to return to democracy.

Once the new Constitution was promulgated, Morales Bermúdez called presidential and parliamentary elections. Belaúnde decided to present himself with his party, Popular Action.

Second government: characteristics

The constituent elections of 1978 meant the return of the political parties to Peru. The winner of the voting was the Aprista Party, with the Popular Christian in second place. Popular Action, the party founded by Belaúnde, resigned to participate, considering that the necessary conditions for a clean election were not met.

However, when the generals were called in 1980, Belaúnde came forward to try to return to power.

Presidential election 1980

The voting took place on May 18, 1980. Belaúnde obtained more than 45% of the votes, while his main rival, Armando Villanueva (APRA) remained at 28%.

On July 28 of that same year, Belaúnde proceeded to swear in office. In parliament, for its part, Popular Action allied itself with the PPC to secure a majority that would allow it to carry out the necessary reforms to recover the democratic system.

First measures

One of the first measures taken by the new government was to return the media expropriated by the military to their former owners. Likewise, it eliminated censorship.

Economically, Belaúnde opted for a team of collaborators characterized by their liberalism. However, it was unable to implement most of the proposed reforms in this area.

Economic aspect

The beginning of the 1980s was marked by the economic crisis that hit all of Latin America. Peru was not spared of its effects, to which the phenomenon of El Niño and terrorism had to be added, which aggravated the consequences.

Belaúnde had to take austerity measures to alleviate the effects of the crisis. The fall in agricultural production, the weakness of the bureaucracy, the appearance of the Shining Path and climatic factors, plus the enormous inherited foreign debt, caused it to have to carry out severe economic adjustments.

The Phenomenon of the Children, struck between 1982 and 1983, on the northern coast of Peru. The damage to road infrastructure and agriculture was very important, even causing a drop in GDP estimated at 6%. Inflation, due to this, rose 135% in just one year.

To further aggravate the situation, metal prices fell after 1983, negatively affecting Peruvian exports.

Social aspect

The bad economic situation affected the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Unemployment increased significantly, which ended up causing a serious social crisis.

The crisis at the Peruvian Embassy in Cuba

As soon as he began to exercise the presidency, Belaúnde had to face an international crisis. It began in January 1981, when 24 Cubans violently entered the Peruvian embassy in Havana. The ambassador allowed the entry of Cuban special forces to capture the refugees. This cost him his job.

At the end of March, another group of Cubans entered the embassy, ​​a fact that was repeated on April 1. Fidel Castro demanded that the Peruvian government hand over the refugees, obtaining a negative response.

Castro removed security to the diplomatic headquarters and announced that anyone could access it if they wanted to leave the country. By April 6, more than 10,000 Cubans had entered.

Finally, in June, the asylees received humanitarian visas from various countries. Peru took in 742 and the majority settled in a refugee camp.

Shining Path

The Belaúnde government had to face several very serious crises during the second stage of its mandate. Among them, those caused by El Niño on the north coast or the fall in the price of metals.

However, the main problem for the country in that period was the terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso, led by Abimael Guzmán. The latter declared war on the state in May 1980, initiating a violent campaign, with indiscriminate murder of thousands of people.

One of the most serious events was the Uchuraccay Massacre, which occurred on January 26, 1983. On that day, eight journalists were executed by residents of that district when they were mistaken for Shining Path militants. Somewhat later, the Putis Massacre occurred, with 200 civilians killed by the army for thinking they were terrorists.

The government declared a State of Emergency and sent the Armed Forces to fight the Shining Path, which had reached an agreement with the drug traffickers.

Specialists point out that terrorism caused great economic losses to the State, both due to the attacks on public infrastructure and the insecurity created throughout the territory.

References

1. López Marina, Diego. Fernando Belaunde Terry: the return of democracy to Peru. Obtained from elcomercio.pe
2. CIDOB Foundation. Fernando Belaúnde Terry. Retrieved from cidob.org
3. History of Peru. Fernando Belaunde Terry. Obtained from historiaperuana.pe
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Fernando Belaúnde Terry. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. The Telegraph. Fernando Belaunde Terry. Retrieved from telegraph.co.uk
6. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Fernando Belaúnde Terry. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
7. Gomez, Carlos Alberto. Peru's Debt Crisis and Subsequent Shock Economy. Retrieved from international.ucla.edu