Francisco Remigio Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (4 October 1921 – 14 July 2022) was a Peruvian politician and general who was the de facto[1] President of Peru (2nd President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces) between 1975 and 1980, after deposing his predecessor, General Juan Velasco.[2][3] His grandfather and all his original family were from the old Peruvian department of Tarapacá, which is now part of Chile. Unable to control the political and economic troubles that the nation faced, he was forced to return power to civilian rule, marking the end of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces installed by a coup d'état in 1968.
Francisco Morales Bermúdez | |
|---|---|
 Morales Bermúdez in 1975 | |
| 51st President of Peru | |
| 2nd President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces | |
| In office 29 August 1975 – 28 July 1980 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Juan Velasco Alvarado |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Belaúnde (as constitutional president, military government collapse) |
| Prime Minister of Peru | |
| In office 1 February 1975 – 29 August 1975 | |
| President | Juan Velasco Alvarado |
| Preceded by | Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín |
| Succeeded by | Oscar Vargas Prieto |
| Minister of War | |
| In office 1 February 1975 – 29 August 1975 | |
| President | Juan Velasco Alvarado |
| Preceded by | Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín |
| Succeeded by | Oscar Vargas Prieto |
| General Commander of the Peruvian Army | |
| In office 1 February 1975 – 29 August 1975 | |
| President | Juan Velasco Alvarado |
| Preceded by | Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín |
| Succeeded by | Oscar Vargas Prieto |
| Minister of Economy and Finance | |
| In office 13 June 1969 – 2 January 1974 | |
| President | Juan Velasco Alvarado |
| Preceded by | Ángel Valdivia Morriberon (Minister of Finance and Commerce) |
| Succeeded by | Guillermo Marcó del Pont |
| Minister of Finance and Commerce | |
| In office 20 March 1968 – 21 May 1968 | |
| President | Fernando Belaúnde |
| Preceded by | Raúl Ferrero Rebagliati |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Ulloa Elías |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francisco Regimio Morales Bermúdez Cerruti 4 October 1921 Lima, Peru |
| Died | 14 July 2022 (aged 100) Miraflores, Lima, Peru |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Remigio Morales Bermúdez (grandfather) |
| Profession | Army general |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Peru |
| Branch/service |  Peruvian Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1980 |
| Rank | General |
Early years
editMorales Bermúdez was born in Lima on 4 October 1921.[4] He was the son of Army Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez and grandson of ex-President Remigio Morales Bermúdez. He received most of his education at Lima's Colegio de la Inmaculada. In 1939, he was accepted into the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos (Chorrillos Military School). After his graduation, he was an important member of the Centro de Altos Estudios Militares (Center for Advanced Military Studies).[citation needed]
Political career
editMorales Bermúdez achieved the rank of brigadier general and was appointed to his first political post in 1968 as Minister of Economy and Finance in the administration of Fernando Belaúnde.[5] Internal problems in government forced him to resign after two months.
In 1968, after Belaúnde had been deposed by a coup, the military government led by General Juan Velasco asked him to return to the post of Minister of Economy and Finance. In 1974, he resigned again, this time because he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Peruvian Army. In 1975, he was appointed to be both Velasco's prime minister and minister of war.[citation needed]
Presidency (1975–1980)
editWith President Velasco's health deteriorating, Morales Bermúdez led a military coup against Velasco and took over as President of Peru on 29 August 1975, leading the country through one of its most severe economic crises. He diverged from the revolutionary nationalist-leaning tendencies of the first phase (1968–1975) of the Peruvian Revolution. His regime participated in Operation Condor, with Peruvian forces collaborating with the Intelligence Battalion 601 in the kidnapping of Argentines in Lima in 1980.[6] Around the end of Morales Bermúdez's tenure, a housing crisis emerged which started the Lost Decade.[7] Morales Bermúdez, politically pressured from all sides, failed in enacting successful political and economic reform.
A Constituent Assembly convened by the Morales Bermudez administration was created in 1978, which replaced the 1933 Constitution enacted during Óscar R. Benavides's presidency. After elections were held in 1980, he returned power over to the first democratically elected government after 12 years of military rule, headed by President Fernando Belaúnde.[citation needed]
Post-presidency (1980–2022)
editAfter leaving office, Morales Bermúdez kept a relatively low profile in Peruvian politics, making sporadic speeches regarding the situation of the Peruvian army.[citation needed]
In 1985, he made an unsuccessful run for the presidency, obtaining a fraction of one percent of the vote.[citation needed]
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Morales Bermúdez was prosecuted by Italian judge Luisianna Figliolia for the forced disappearance of 25 Italian citizens in Peru during Operation Condor, a campaign backed by the United States government of political repression orchestrated by right-wing South American dictatorships during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.[8] On 17 January 2017, the Corte d'Assise in Rome found Morales Bermúdez guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in absentia.[9][10][11]
On 16 June 2021, Morales Bermúdez was among 63 former Peruvian military officials who signed a letter calling on the Peruvian armed forces to "...according to what is established in Article 46 of the our Constitution, the Armed Forces would have the right to non-obedience and therefore to disavow as President and Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces and National Police a person who has been appointed by violating the Constitution and Laws of our country, being able to appeal to the Congress of the Republic to provide a democratic solution in accordance with the Law" in response to the election that month of President-elect Pedro Castillo, the target of unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud by his opponent Keiko Fujimori.[12] The Ministry of Defense of Peru promptly issued a release where it clarified that this letter “does not represent the Armed Forces.”[13]
Morales Bermúdez turned 100 on 4 October 2021,[14] and died at a hospital in the Miraflores District of Lima on 14 July 2022.[15][16] At the time of his death, he was the oldest living state leader.
References
edit- ^ Cordero, Jaime (29 April 2008). "Italia pide la detención y extradición del ex presidente peruano Morales Bermúdez". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "A short history of Peru". Archived from the original on 12 December 2007.
- ^ "Peru". U.S. Department of State.
- ^ Georgette Magassy Dorn (1996). "Profile of Francisco Morales Bermúdez". In Barbara A. Tenenbaum (ed.). Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Vol. 4. Charles Scribner's Sons [Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall. p. 116. ISBN 9780684192536.
- ^ "Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas – Histórico – Relación de Ministros". www.mef.gob.pe.
- ^ "Wikiwix[archive]".
- ^ Echeverría, Javier Iguiñiz (1987). "Perú: Crisis Económica y Democracia". Investigación Económica. 46 (179): 223–253. JSTOR 42813691.223-253&rft.date=1987&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42813691#id-name=JSTOR&rft.aulast=Echeverría&rft.aufirst=Javier Iguiñiz&rft_id=http://www.jstor.org/stable/42813691&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Francisco Morales Bermúdez" class="Z3988">
- ^ "RPP – Noticias del Perú y el Mundo | Radio | Podcast | RPP Noticias". rpp.pe. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007.
- ^ "19 condanne e 8 assoluzioni: si chiude il processo Condor". Archived from the original on 4 October 2017.
- ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (17 January 2017). "Morales Bermúdez condenado a cadena perpetua por Plan Cóndor | POLITICA". El Comercio Perú.
- ^ PERU21, NOTICIAS (17 February 2017). "Francisco Morales Bermúdez: ¿Por qué Italia condenó al ex dictador peruano? | POLITICA". Peru21. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Serra, Ricardo Sanchez (18 June 2021). "Carta de oficiales en retiro a altos mando militares". Federación de Periodistas del Perú.
- ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (18 June 2021). "Ministerio de Defensa y el CCFFAA consideran apócrifa carta de supuestos militares en retiro | ELECCIONES-2021". El Comercio Perú.
- ^ "MORALES BERMÚDEZ CONVERSA HOY CON EL DIRECTOR DE "YO AMO A MI EJÉRCITO"" (in Spanish). Extra. 2 October 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ "Francisco Morales Bermúdez falleció a los 100 años". El Comercio (in Spanish). 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ Briceño, Franklin (15 July 2022). "Peru military leader who oversaw return of democracy dies". Associated Press. Retrieved 16 July 2022.