Fascism as a political philosophy in Peru held great influence among different sectors of society during the early to mid-20th century. The movement was particularly strong following the Arequipa revolution of 1930 and the end of the Leguía’s regime, although its popularity declined following the end of World War II, after the defeat and discredit of fascism worlwide. Peruvian fascism was mainly influenced by Italian fascism and, in a lesser way, Spanish falangism, while also drawing significant inspiration from Catholic tradition and the concept of Mestizaje, emphasizing the unity of the Peruvian people.
Overview
According to historian José Ignacio López Soria,[1] the fascist movement in Peru could be divided into three currents:
Mesocratic fascism (Spanish: fascismo mesocrático), popular among the middle classes, opposed the historic ruling class and sought to promote the needs of mestizos to build support among the diverse groups in Peru.
According to historian Eduardo González Calleja, popular fascism would lack a Catholic background, being instead motivated by a strong opposition towards capitalism and the support of a corporate state that would control the capital, manage the economy and guarantee social discipline.[2]
Another main outlet for fascism became the Peruvian Fascist Brotherhood, formed by ex-Prime Minister José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma. Riva-Agüero became more supportive of fascism after he returned to Catholicism in 1932, believing, according to López Soria, that Peru should "return to the medieval, Catholic, Hispanic tradition as embodied now by fascism"[3][4] and he used the teachings of Bartolomé Herrera and Alejandro Deustua to support his ideology.[5] The Fascist Brotherhood initially enjoyed some prestige but it receded into the background after Peru entered the Second World War on the side of the Allies.[6] Moreover, the group's credibility was damaged by its leader becoming increasingly eccentric in his personal behaviour.[6]
The most popular fascist faction in Peru was Revolutionary Union (UR),[4] which was initially founded by President Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro in 1931 as the state party of his dictatorship. President Sánchez Cerro, who had humble origins, was highly charismatic, familiar with the populace's customs and was recognized as courageous after overthrowing President Augusto B. Leguía.[4] UR quickly found support from former Civilista Party members and the traditional oligarchy families who wanted to protect themselves from other populist movements.[4] After President Sánchez Cerro's assassination in 1933, the group came under the leadership of Luis A. Flores, who sought to mobilise mass support and even set up a Blackshirt movement in imitation of the Italian model.[7][8]Óscar R. Benavides, who took office after the assassination, also led an authoritarian conservative regime from 1933 to 1939.[3][4][9] During his government, Benavides built a strong relationship with Peru's business leaders.[10]
The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) was inspired by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre's observations of fascist and communist parties during his time in Europe.[11] During the 1930s APRA developed certain similarities with fascism, such as calling for a new national community and founding a small paramilitary wing, but then it very quickly changed course and emerged as a mainstream social democratic party.[12][13]
In 2013, the short-lived Legionary Action (Spanish: Acción Legionaria) was established in Lima, marking the emergence of the first contemporary fascist organization in years.[15] The group upheld the legacy of Sánchez Cerro and considered itself as the heirs of the former Revolutionary Union, proclaiming a Third Positionist ideology radically opposed towards both liberalism and communism.[16] Such as its claimed predecessor, Acción Legionaria also adopted the classical blackshirt attire and the usage of fascist symbology.[17] It also had close ties with the Brazilian neo-fascist organization Frente Nacionalista (National Front).[17] During its period of activities, Legionary Action attempted to become a fascist political party, but would be eventually dissolved in 2016.[15]
^Castillo-García, César (2022). The crooked timber that bore fruit: Peruvian fascist intellectuals of the 1930s and the echoes of their influence nowadays. The New School for Social Research.
^Nugent, David (November 2010). "States, secrecy, subversives: APRA and political fantasy in mid-20th-century Peru". American Ethnologist. 37 (4): 701. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01278.x. As a number of authors have noted, Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who had founded the party and was responsible for its organization, had been heavily influenced by the discipline and order of fascist and communist parties during his trip to Europe in the 1920s.
^Gunson, Phil; Thompson, Andrew; Chamberlain, Greg (1989). The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America. London: Routledge. p. 13.
^ abVillanueva, Victor; Crabtree, Peter (Summer 1977). "The Petty-Bourgeois Ideology of the Peruvian Aprista Party". Latin American Perspectives. 4 (3): 73. doi:10.1177/0094582X7700400303. S2CID154846540. In the elections of 1939 APRA stood ready to ally with ... the fascist Union Revolucionaria (UR) whose leader, Luis A. Flores, described himself as a "fascist by temperament and conviction" ... APRA allied itself to Manuel Prado, ... Apristas who had already voted for Prado, and his triumph was due to this support and to the electoral fraud effected by Benavides. In 1944 APRA formed part of the reformist Frente Democratico Nacional (FDN) ... including the fascist UR, ... The triumph of the FDN made Dr. Bustamante y Rivero the new President; he belonged to the ultra-conservative sector ... In the elections called in 1950 ... the Aprista Party supported the candidacy of the ultra-conservative General Ernesto Montagne, an ex-minister in the Sanchez Cerro and Benavides dictatorships.
^ abMitrovic, Mijail (2021). "At the fabric of history: Peru's political struggle under (and against) the pandemic". Dialectical Anthropology. 45 (4): 431–446. The deaths of the two young men led to a dispute over public space that prefigured the following months: the memorials erected spontaneously by citizens were repeatedly razed to the ground by the pro-Fujimori group La Resistencia, a far-right shock troop that months later would boast of shouting "no to communism" with the fascist gesture of the raised right arm during the second round between Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular) and Pedro Castillo (Perú Libre).
^Drinot, Paulo (17 March 2022). "Peruvian Stasis". New Left Review. Retrieved 21 May 2023. neofascist groups like La Resistencia, with close ties to the fujimorista movement, have sought to intimidate government ministers, independent journalists and feminist activists.
