Acción Popular (Popular Action) is a Peruvian political party founded on June 1st 1956 in the Province of Chincheros (Département of Cuzco), by Fernando Belaúnde Terry.
The party had as a base the Frente de Juventudes Democráticas (Face of the Young Democrats), with which Fernando Belaúnde had been presented to the elections of 1956 and had lost vis-a-vis Manuel Prado Ugarteche.
Acción Popular in the Sixties
During the following years, Acción Popular becomes a popular movement. At the end of the Years 1950 and at the beginning of the Years 1960, AP occupied the space of the democratic left with movements MSP (Social movement Progressist) and cd. (Christian Democrat). Its positioning was not very distant from that of the American Alliance popular revolutionary, but the party sought more the consensus than confrontation what ensured an electoral base broader to him than that of its rival of left.
With the elections of 1962, Belaúnde was second, with only 14.000 votes of Víctor Raúl Haya of Torre, the candidate of the American revolutionary popular Alliance and of the Pradiste Democratic movement. The Armed forces pretexted the electoral fraud to reverse president Prado a few days before the term of its mandate and to convene new elections for the following year. It is thus into 1963 that Belaúnde, combined with the Christian Democrat and other movements of the left, overrode the leader of American revolutionary popular Alliance.
But it did not have the majority with the two rooms of the legislative power. American revolutionary popular Alliance, joined together with the Unión Nacional Odriísta (UNO) of the former president Manual A. Odría, managed to form a coalition. In answer to that, Acción Popular concludes an alliance with the Christian Popular party, led by Luis Bedoya Reyes.
Quickly, the governmental attempts at reform were slowed down by a constant opposition of the " Coalition American-UNO" revolutionary popular Alliance;. Within the party of the government made secession in 1967 to form Acción Popular Socialista , directed by Edgardo Seoane.
In 1968, American revolutionary popular Alliance decides to break its alliance with the UNO, requiring n the other hand that one applies his plan of expropriation of the oil fields of the area of Brea there Pariñas controlled by International Petroleum Company , a subsidiary company of the oil company Standard Oil off New Jersey.
The scandal caused by the disappearance of the one of the original pages of the document between the state and the oil company, created large a faintness in the political world. The Peruvian Armée decided to reverse the government of Belaúnde. The Ulloa Prime Minister and president Belaúnde were driven out Palais of the Government the October 3rd 1968. Belaúnde left in exile in Argentine.
Acción Popular and the government of the armed forces (1968-1980)
The president, the major general Juan Velasco Alvarado started a process " révolutionnaire" and militarist who will last until in 1975, before being reversed by the major general Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti. For all this period, Acción Popular did not collaborate with this government de facto and without constitutional legitimacy. Not being able more to control the country, Moralez Bermúdez is lived in the obligation to convene a Constituent Assembly in 1978, chaired by Víctor Raúl Haya of Torre.
Acción Popular in the Eighties
In 1980, took place of the general elections, to which Fernando Belaúnde, of return of exile, was presented. It obtained nearly 45% of the voices.
For the period of 1980 - 1985, the government of belaúnde dealt with various serious problems: catastrophic floods in the north of the country, the crisis of the foreign debt contracted during the military regime, the fall in the price of exports, the immense weight of the apparatus of the State and the beginning of the armed struggle engaged by the group Maoist luminous Path.
In this context, the party and its candidate with the presidency Javier Alva Orlandini were rolled with the general elections of 1985, with only 6,4% of the voices. Alan García Pérez, general secretary of Peruvian the Apriste Party, was elected President of the Republic.
He proved during this decade which the party was more the electoral machine of Belaúnde than an institutionalized organization. In addition, since the Years 1960, with the democratization of Peru, it had passed in the political spectrum of the reformism of left to the center-right.
Acción Popular in the Nineties
In 1990, Acción Popular took part in the elections within the coalition of center-right Frente Democrático (FREDEMO), with PC and the Movimiento Libertad. This face was led by the novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. The elections showed the surprised victory of independent the Alberto Fujimori. After two years of being able and confrontation with the Fujimori members of Parliament the dissolution of the Congress of the Republic]] the April 5th 1992 caused.
Acción Popular, the American revolutionary popular Alliance, the left and other political parties decided not to take part in the elections for the Democratic Congrès Constituting , decided for NOT with the Référendum of 1993 for the Constitution of 1993 .
During the decade, Acción Popular will have seen little by little decreasing its political influence in the country, obtaining with the Congress in 2000, only three representatives, of which one was general secretary of the Party, Valentín Paniagua.
The opposition to Fujimori was majority with the Congress in July, but many congressmen of the various parties changed camp to go in that of the president. The September 16th 2000, Fernando Olivera Vega, congressman of the opposition, showed a video where one saw Vladimiro Montesinos, right-hand man of Fujimori, suborning a congressman so that it passes on the side of the government.
The government of Alberto Fujimori fell in November 2000. Following two very disputed votes, the opposition recovered the majority with the Congress, and elected Valentín Paniagua Corazao with the presidency of the legislative body.
Alberto Fujimori decides to resign since the Japan.
The administration Paniagua (November 2000 - July 2001)
After the failure of Fujimori and its fellow candidates, Valentín Paniagua, as a President of the Congress, became President of the Republic. Paniagua carried out the transition, appointed Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Prime Minister and Minister for the Foreign relations. The general elections were convened in 2001 and were gained by Alejandro Toledo Manrique. The party obtained only 3 seats with the congress on 120 with 4,2% of the voices.With the elections of 2006, the party was combined with Somos Perú and Coordinadora Nacional de Independientes to form the coalition Frente de Centro (Face of the Center) with at its Paniagua head.
Important personalities of Acción Popular
The party gave two presidents of the Republic to Peru:
- Fernando Belaúnde Terry - which gained the presidential elections democratically twice, which made of Acción Popular a governing party in 1963 - 1968 and 1980 - 1985.
- Valentín Paniagua Corazao - elected official chair Congress of the Republic, and was named for this reason president of the transition government: 2000 - 2001.
Other eminent historical figures of the party: Javier Alva Orlandini, Manual Ulloa Elías, Javier Stella Arias, Jose María of Jara there Ureta, Eduardo Orrego Villacorta, Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde.
External bonds
- Official site of the party Acción Popular
- nonofficial Page of Acción Popular
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