The Sanchez Cerro regimes in Peru, 1930-1933
The history of the Śanchez Cerro regimes has been obscured by the overwhelming attention given the Apra party, whose early history coincides with Śanchez Cerro's political rise. He has been uncritically used as an example of the "reactionary military-civilian clique" which has prevented Apra from exercising its role as the only "real representative of the people." Śanchez Cerro's role in Peruvian politics, however, was more interesting and complicated than the one ascribed to him by the Aprista's and their sjinpathizers. In fact, Śanchez Cerro created the first movement which competed directly with Apra for the loyalty of the Peruvian masses and was the first to thwart Aprjsta pretensions to power. The first important confrontation between Śanchez Cerro and Apra took place in the 1931 presidential election i)A which thf; "hero of Arequipa" overwhelmed his opponent, Heya de la Torre. Of course, the Apristas disclaimed the validity of the results by charging fraud, and their claims went generally unchallenged . They never proved the dishonesty of the election; however, its honesty regained equally unsubstantiated. The author's interest in the election was aroused originally by the discovery that Śanchez Cerro was put in a position to manipulate the outcome since the junta then in power harbored strong antipathies against him. This interest grew into a desire to analyze the election and the ensuing Aprista-Sanchez Cerrista confrontations, which in turn became the subject of this dissertation. Although the resource material available is not abundant, it is sufficient to derive certain conclusions about the 1931 election and the Śanchez Cerro regimes of which the first is that the election was one of the most honest ever held in Peru. It became necessary to assure oneself of this fact because, in a sense, the credibility of the Apra party was at stake. Second, it appears that Śanchez Cerro captured the votes of two of the most important elements of Peruvian society upon which Apra sought to base its power---the urban voter and the Indians. This conclusion, however, is tentative and needs more definite verification since important provincial returns were not available to the author. Third, the election, aside from representing the struggle between two young popular caudillos . also reflected the continuation of the struggle between Civilistas and Leguiistas which dated back to the early years of the twentieth century. Fourth, the election and the ensuing Sanchez Cerrista-Aprista confrontation had overtones of the world-wide struggle for ideological supremacy waged by fascism, communism, and democracy---even though the forces in Peru did not correspond exactly to those engaged in political conflict in Europe. Finally, Śanchez Cerro, as a nationalist, recognized the importance of more government involvement in the economic, social, and educational needs of Peru. The work is divided into three parts. The first deals with Peru's political history from the creation of the Civilista party in 1871 to the fall of Leguia in 1930 (Chapter I), and with Sanchez Cerro's first regime, August, 1930- March, 1931 (Chapter II). It should be made iii clear in connection with Chapter I that technically Leguia was not a Civilista after 1911. However, his political past and his rise to power were so closely connected with that party that his regime (1919- 1930) is considered part of the Civilista period of predominance (1899-1930). In addition, the Civilista label attached to Leguia represents the view of the contemporary press which considered him no more than an unorthodox member of the Civilista party. Part II contains a description of the Samanez Ocampo junta, a discussion of the presidential candidates---their parties and platforms---and an analysis of the 1931 election. Part III deals with the second Sanchez Cerro regime (December, 1931-April, 1933) emphasizing its handling of political and international crises, but also Includes a review of the regime's economic, social, and educational policies
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 1969
1969