Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre (22 February 1895 - 2 August 1979) was a Peruvian political leader.He was born in Trujillo in the north of the country. In 1913 he enrolled in Trujillo University to study literature, where he met and forged a solid friendship with the poet César Vallejo. Haya then enrolled in the San Marcos University in Lima.
On 7 May 1924, while in Mexico City, he founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) political party and the related continental movement known as Aprismo.
He advocated a system of Latin American (or, to use his preferred term, Indo-American) solutions to Latin American problems. He called upon the region to reject both US Imperialism and Muscovite Communism. He favored universal democracy, equal rights and respect for indigenous "Indian" populations, and socialist economic policies such as the "agrarian reform" (based on the concept of communal land ownership) and state control of industry. Years later, the military government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado implemented similar policies to the ones suggested by Haya de la torre, with disastrous results. By 1972, Velasco Alvarado had managed to destroy Peru's anchovy fishing industry, which had once supplied a quarter of the world's fish flour. In 1985, using the same economic policies, APRA leader Alan Garcia wrecked what little was left standing in the country.
Although he was twice elected President of Peru, the Peruvian military staged a coup to prevent him from taking office each time.
His party (APRA) advocated the overthrow of the land-owning oligarchies that had ruled Peru since colonial days, and sought to replace them with an idealistic socialist elite. He was exiled in 1923 and returned to Peru in 1931 to run for President. That year, he was imprisoned for 15 months and his party was outlawed until 1934 and then also from 1935 to 1945. In 1945, José Luis Bustamante y Rivero became president with APRA's support. Then, in 1948, some party dissidents revolted in Callao and his whole party was again outlawed. In November of that year, Manuel Odría seized power and forced Haya to seek asylum in the Colombian embassy in Lima.
Haya de la Torre was able to return to Peru in 1954 and his party was again legalized in 1956. However, he continued to live mostly abroad until 1962. He run for president again, obtaining victory by a slim margin but not enough to be constitutionally elected. Then, a military junta nullified the elections. There were new elections in 1963, but Haya was defeated then. His party remained popular. In 1979 he became president of the constitutionaly assembly, which drafted a new constitution. While on his death bed, he was still able to sign the new constitution on July 12.
After years of highs and lows, APRA finally obtained power when Alan Garcia was elected president in 1985. The policies of Alan Garcia and his minions were blamed for largely destroying the economy of the country. During his term there was extreme hyperinflation (2,200,200% between July 1985 and July 1990) which made the Peruvian currency lose 9 zeros. Also during his term, the per capita annual income of Peruvians descended to $720, below the level of 1960. Peru's GDP dropped 20% and left the National Reserves with a negative $900 million at the end of his term.