Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16 1910–1977) was a left-leaning Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government"

Early Years

Velasco was born in Piura, on Peru's north coast. In 1929, he joined the Peruvian Army as a soldier. Due to his excellent discipline, he was selected to attend the military academy of Chorrillos, located near Lima. In 1934 he graduated at the top of his class. He keep close relationships over the years with some of his military colleagues from this era, most of them later on the Centro de Altos Estudios del Ejercito (CAEM).

President of the republic

Velasco came to power on October 2, 1968 in a military coup. During the Belaunde administration, political unrest was already becoming a serious problem, with arguments between President Fernando Belaúnde Terry and the APRA-UNO dominated parliament, and even between the president and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party were common. A dispute with the International Petroleum Company sparked a row, giving the armed forces the excuse to seize power. During his rule, Velasco implemented various reformist policies, such as agrarian reform, but his efforts to modernize the Peruvian economy were only partly successful.

Overthrow

On August 29, 1975, a number of prominent military commanders initiated a coup in the southern city of Tacna, nicknamed El Tacnazo.

The military commanders of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th military regions declared that Velasco had not achieved most of what the "Peruvian Revolution" had stood for and was unable to continue in his functions. Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez was then appointed president, by unanimous decision of the new military junta.

Prior to being deposed, Velasco had been seriously ill for at least a year; he had lost a leg to an embolism, and his cognitive abilities and personality were rumoured to have been affected by related circulatory problems. At the time of the coup, he was convalescing in Chaclacayo , a small city near Lima. He immediately decided to meet with his council of ministers, where he discovered that there was little or nothing to do. He made a last speech to the nation, announcing his decision not to resist the coup.

Velasco kept a low profile in Peruvian politics until his death in 1977.

See also

• Politics of Peru
• List of Presidents of Peru