The Peruvian Aprista Party (Spanish: Partido Aprista Peruano, PAP) () is a Peruvian political party and a member of the Socialist International. The party was founded as the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (Spanish: Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana, APRA) by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who originally intended to create a network of anti-imperialist social and political movements in Latin America. Members are called "compañeros" (fellows), based on the fraternity espoused by Haya de la Torre.
Facing international pressure from the United States, which was promoting anti-communism in the Americas, the party is said to have adopted a mild right-wing populist agenda by the 1940s. The party drifted further right during the first Alan García presidency from 1985. The party later adopted in 2006 a new platform as García's second presidency implemented a series of policies labelled as center-right, embracing free-market capitalism, dialogue with other right-wing parties and organizations in the country, and closer ties with the Catholic Church and Evangelical churches. A number of scholars say that the party has shifted to the right side of the left–right political spectrum.
Founded continentally in 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico, and nationally in 1930 in Lima, it is one of the oldest political parties in Latin America. Among the Peruvian political parties in activity, specifically for having been stripped of electoral victories by coups or military governments after having triumphed democratically, it also went through two long periods of illegality, both under military and civilian governments, having been persecuted by the presidencies of Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro and Manuel A. Odría. The Peruvian Aprista Party has gained in the presidency in two occasions: in 1985 and 2006, both under the candidacy of Alan García. At parliamentary level, the party was represented uninterrupted from 1995 until 2020, falling below the electoral threshold to attain legislative representation.
Although APRA does not operate throughout Latin America as its founder envisioned for, it has served as a powerful influence for other social democratic Latin American political organizations, such as the PT in Brazil, the Democratic Action (AD) in Venezuela and the Socialist Party of Chile.
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History
20th century
APRA was founded by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre in Mexico City on 7 May 1924 with aspirations to becoming a continent-wide party, and it subsequently influenced a number of other Latin American political movements, including Bolivia's Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, MNR), Dominican Republic's Dominican Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, PRD) and Costa Rica's National Liberation Party (Partido Liberación Nacional, PLN). The party was inspired by Haya de la Torre's observations of fascist and communist parties during his time in Europe.
Initial supporters for APRA in the 1920s mainly included middle-class and wealthy Peruvians who were upset with the sugar industry's modernization. It appealed to left-wing Peruvian intellectuals, as well as the nascent Peruvian labor movement. It is the oldest surviving political party in Peru and is as much a social phenomenon as a political movement, with a membership whose loyalty to the party has been unwavering for several generations. APRA initially espoused anti-imperialism, Pan-Americanism, international solidarity and economic nationalism. Years of repression and clandestinity, as well as Haya de la Torre's single-handed dominance of the party, resulted in striking sectarian and hierarchical traits. The party's structure and its hold over its rank and file proved more lasting than its original ideological platform.
In the 1930s, the party was banned after being inaccurately labeled as communist; Italy and the United States supported the ban as they believed APRA served as a front group for bolshevism. The conflict between APRA and the authoritarian government of Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro led to civil war-like conditions. On 2 July 1932, APRA militants massacred sixty soldiers in Trujillo, which resulted in a violent response from President Sánchez Cerro that resulted with about 1,500 Apristas killed and the arrest of Haya de la Torre. Abelardo Mendoza Leyva, an Aprista, later assassinated President Sánchez Cerro on 30 April 1933.
By the late-1930s, the United States began to share statements that it would intervene in the Americas to prevent the spread of communism, frightening left-wing parties in Latin America. By the 1940s, in an attempt for political survival, APRA adopted anti-communist and mild right-wing populist agendas to appease international critics. In 1944, APRA formed the National Democratic Front political coalition beside the far-right Reformist Democratic Party and the fascist Revolutionary Union party, excluding the Peruvian Communist Party. The alliance led to the triumph of José Luis Bustamante y Rivero becoming president the same year. During the Bustamante presidency, APRA used its influence in Congress to pursue progressive policies such as improving the pay of government employees, encouraging labor union expansion, and introducing new rights for rural workers. During this period, APRA also made efforts to organize openly such as by opening up its own newspaper, setting up a network of youth groups and community centers, and helping those in need by providing legal aid, social assistance, and health services.
21st century
In 2000, Abel Salinas was elected as the presidential nominee, being the worst general election for APRA, gaining only 1% of the popular vote. Only 6 APRA congressman were elected. As many assume the election was a fraud, Fujimori resigned after the corruption of his government was revealed by the opposition.
At the legislative elections, the party won 19.7% of the popular vote and 28 out of 120 seats in Congress. Its presidential candidate at the elections of the same day, Alan García Pérez, won 25.8% of the vote, placing second and was defeated in the second round by Alejandro Toledo.
In February 2005, García officially commenced his campaign for the 2006 presidential election. He came in second place by a slim margin over Lourdes Flores, and faced Ollanta Humala in a run-off election on 4 June. He became president again as Humala conceded after exit polls and partial vote counts showed García leading. Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera. He officially took office on 28 July 2006.
On the eve of leaving the government, García called a general election for 10 April 2011. APRA ran as a guest presidential candidate for former minister Mercedes Aráoz, but her candidacy was frustrated by numerous internal conflicts with other party leaders. In this way, the party participated in the elections without a candidate, obtaining 4 seats in Congress. It has remained an organized opposition party against the Ollanta Humala administration. For the 2016 elections, APRA signed an alliance with the Partido Popular Cristiano and Vamos Perú, under the title of "Alianza Popular (Popular Alliance)", with Alan García as the presidential candidate, who will serve a third term and long-time rival Lourdes Flores as Garcia's first running mate. According to Javier Barreda, this alliance did not benefit these three parties at all.
In the 2016 elections, Alan García lost resoundingly, remaining in fifth place with 6.19%. Hours later, he resigned from the APRA presidency calling for an "internal restructuring of the party." On 13 May 2016, a political alliance between APRA and Keiko Fujimori is created. In this alliance, APRA and Fujimori's Popular Force party collaborate to target political opponents implicated in the Odebrecht corruption scandal, using sympathetic prosecutors and judges to accused rivals of corruption.
International alignment
APRA is a member of the Socialist International.
The youth organization of APRA is known as Juventud Aprista Peruana.
Hilda Gadea – the first female Secretary of the Economy of the Executive National Committee for APRA; later married Che Guevara and wrote a memoir.
Current structure and composition
National Executive Committee
The National Executive Committee of the Peruvian Aprista Party is the implementing body of organic action and mobilization of the party. It is the responsibility of the National Executive Committee to give the unit of total action committees and party cadres, efficiently support the development of decentralized activities and delegate decision-making authority to the Base Committees throughout the Republic, with knowledge of the national political leadership.
The establishment, functions, powers of each National Institute and Regional Institute delegates and general coordinators, are set out in the General Rules of Organization on the basis of which produces the respective functions manual, which must be approved by the National Political Commission. It is led by two general secretaries, which are elected by a National Convention.
The current National Executive Committee is led by Belén García Mendoza, former congressional nominee from Ica, and Benigno Chirinos, former Senator and current Chairman of the Workers Confederation, a trade union affiliated to the party. As Institutional and Political General Secretaries, respectively, they were elected at the XXV National Convention, held from 25 to 27 October 2019.
Institutional General Secretary: Belén Ysabel García Mendoza
Political General Secretary: Benigno Hildebrando Chirinos Sotelo
Secretary of Organization and Mobilization: Enrique Melgar Moscoso
Secretary of Discipline: Maximiliano Paz Soldán Espinoza
Secretary of Professional Caucuses: Ricardo Enrique Yturbe López
Secretary of Unions and Workers: Eleodoro Calderón Zegarra
Secretary of Popular Organizations: Filomena Arévalo Gonzales
Office of the President of the Party
The Office of the President of the Party was established on 15 July 1985, in honor of Alan García's triumph in being the first member of the party to be elected President of Peru. According to the party statute, it is the highest rank in the party, exercising executive functions, and presiding all permanent organ meetings. Chosen by the National Convention, the presidency is widely perceived as honorific position created exclusively for García. Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre holds the eternal position of "Chief", according to Aprista lore, but never took an executive role as embodied by García.
The current President of the Party is César Trelles Lara, the former Governor of Piura, elected and ratified as such pursuant to the law of Political Parties, by the XXV National Convention, held from 25 to 27 October 2019.
President: César Trelles Lara
National Political Commission
The National Political Commission is the highest ranking organ on party policy, after the convention. It is in charge of defining and expressing the party's position on transcendental aspects of the country, conducting party thought and action, within the framework of its ideological and programmatic conception. It establishes the political line, agrees and guides the organization, party action and the development of the objectives and goals of the National Executive Committee and the Autonomous Bodies.
According to the party's statute, the commission is formed by eleven members. Five members are elected by the National Convention, while are four appointed by the president of the party, and the two general secretaries.
The current National Political Commission is chaired by Mauricio Mulder, former Congressman from Lima and former party Secretary General. Mulder was first elected at the XXIV National Convention "Armando Villanueva", held at the party headquarters in Breña, Lima, from 7 to 9 July 2017, and was reelected by the XXV National Convention "Alan García", held from 25 to 27 October 2019.
Elected by the 2019 National Convention:
Chairman: Mauricio Mulder
Mercedes Cabanillas
Elías Grijalva Alvarado
José Germán Pimentel Aliaga
Carmen Najarro Quispe
Appointed by the presidency:
Enrique Valderrama
Moisés Tambini del Valle
Félix Antonio Mauricio Alor
Juan Segundo Carlos Mejía Seminario
From the National Executive Committee: