Fascism in Peru

Luis A. Flores alongside Blackshirt militants portraying the Roman salute, 1934

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:

Aristocratic fascism ("fascismo aristocrático"), which would be driven by a militant ultramontane Catholicism that fiercely opposed Marxist atheism and Protestant liberalism.
Mesocratic fascism ("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.
Popular fascism ("fascismo popular"), incarnated in the Unión Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Union) and with a close relation towards the masses, seeking to support the notion of class collaboration.

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]

History

Early foundations

Intellectual developement of the movement

The intellectual development of fascism in Peru emerged in the early 1930s, during the years of the Sánchez Cerro presidency.^[3] Early fascist thought in Peru was influenced by European fascism, but adapted to the Peruvian socio-political context. Influenced by global developments such as the Fascist experience in Italy or the Spanish Civil War, Peruvian intellectuals explored various fascist currents, including classical fascism and falangism.^[4] This era saw a reapparition of former adherents of the civilista movement, alongside a right-leaning, nationalist youth in the university context, with figures like Luis A. Flores, Ernesto Byrne, Carlos Sayan Alvarez, Guillermo Hoyos Osores and Alfredo Herrera.^[5] These nationalist activists got interested in politics since the student mobilization against Leguía in the 1920s, and had fought the political left during their university years.^[6] This newer generation of nationalists had an ideological view closer to fascism than former liberal ideology of the civilista movement,^[7] and were one of the main political forces that supported the presidential candidacy of Sánchez Cerro as the leader of Revolutionary Union (UR).^[6] However, intellectual support for fascism wasn’t exclusive of the political right; certain left-leaning intellectuals such as the progressive Dora Mayer or the socialist Abelardo Solís were also supportive of a fascist project in Peru.^[8]

The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Catholic Action and other Catholic groups supported Ferrero Rebagliati's concept of mesocratic fascism.^[9]^[2] The movement was inspired by Italian fascism and Spanish falangism.^[9]^[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"^[9]^[10] and he used the teachings of Bartolomé Herrera and Alejandro Deustua to support his ideology.^[11] 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.^[12] Moreover, the group's credibility was damaged by its leader becoming increasingly eccentric in his personal behaviour.^[12]

Fascist-inspired governments

The most popular fascist faction in Peru was Revolutionary Union (UR),^[10] 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.^[10] UR quickly found support from former Civilista Party members and the traditional oligarchy families who wanted to protect themselves from other populist movements.^[10] 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.^[13]^[14] Óscar R. Benavides, who took office after the assassination, also led an authoritarian conservative regime from 1933 to 1939.^[9]^[10]^[15] During his government, Benavides built a strong relationship with Peru's business leaders.^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18]^[19]

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.^[20] The alliance led to the triumph of ultraconservative José Luis Bustamante y Rivero becoming president the same year.^[20] The overall defeat of Revolutionary Union in the 1944 elections shook confidence in the movement and it faded.^[13]

Post-WWII era

The end of World War II saw a discredition of fascism worldwide, both academically and politically. Peruvian fascism lost most of its political presence, becoming more of an underground movement rather than a mainstream ideology.^[21] Since Latin America did not suffer the horrors of war and there was not an open process of defascistization or denazification as it was in Germany, Revolutionary Union could continue their operations during the following years.^[22] However, the organization decayed politically and never recovered their support gained in the 1930s.^[23] The urrista movement would last until the 1980s, disappearing entirely before the end of the Cold War,^[24] with remnants persisting up to the early days of Shining Path terrorism.^[25]

21st Century

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.^[26] 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.^[27] Such as its claimed predecessor, Acción Legionaria also adopted the classical blackshirt attire and the usage of fascist symbology.^[28] It also had close ties with the Brazilian neo-fascist organization Frente Nacionalista (National Front).^[28] During its period of activities, Legionary Action attempted to become a fascist political party, but would be eventually dissolved in 2016.^[26]

Other organizations that have expressed certain sympathies with fascism are Los Insurgentes and Los Combatientes del Pueblo, two splinter groups of the civil association La Resistencia.^[29] During the COVID-19 crisis, both groups engaged in spreading information and coordinating protests and grassroots mobilization in opposition to the lockdowns, mask usage and the mandatory vaccination policies, which they viewed as steps towards the establishment of a New World Order (NWO).^[30] Some members of said organizations have been closely associated with National Socialist sympathizers.^[30]

References

^ López Soria 2022, p. 37-56.
^ ^a ^b ^c González Calleja 1994, p. 235.
^ Young 2006, p. 515.
^ López Soria 2022, p. 48.
^ González Calleja 1994, p. 233-234.
^ ^a ^b González Calleja 1994, p. 234.
^ Stein 1981, p. 119-122.
^ Gonzales Alvarado 2020, p. 79.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d López Soria 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e González Calleja 1994.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b Rees 1990, p. 324.
^ ^a ^b Payne, Stanley George (1996). A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Routledge. pp. 343–344.
^ "BALANCE Y LIQUIDACION DE UNA EPOCA VIOLENTA". Presente (20): 6. 1957-04-20.
^ Suárez Trejo 2018, p. 23-24.
^ Suárez Trejo 2018, p. 24.
^ Nugent 2010, p. 701.
^ Griffin 1991, pp. 148–152.
^ Gunson, Phil; Thompson, Andrew; Chamberlain, Greg (1989). The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America. London: Routledge. p. 13.
^ ^a ^b Villanueva, Victor; Crabtree, Peter (Summer 1977). "The Petty-Bourgeois Ideology of the Peruvian Aprista Party". Latin American Perspectives. 4 (3): 73. doi:10.1177/0094582X7700400303. S2CID 154846540. 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.
^ Lira 2017, p. 7.
^ Gayozzo 2024, p. 245.
^ Chirinos Soto 1984, p. 64.
^ Lira 2017, p. 7; Chirinos Soto 1984, p. 64.
^ Lira 2017, p. 6-7; Gayozzo 2024, p. 245.
^ ^a ^b Trujillo & Rosas 2024, p. 338.
^ Trujillo & Rosas 2024, p. 338, 341; Suárez Trejo 2018, p. 25.
^ ^a ^b Caldeira Neto 2016, p. 26.
^ Coronel 2024, p. 19-21.
^ ^a ^b Coronel 2024, p. 21.

Sources

López Soria, José Ignacio (2022) [1981]. El pensamiento fascista en el Perú. Una antología [1930-1945] (2 ed.). Lima: Editorial Ande. ISBN 978-612-48818-3-1.
Chirinos Soto, Enrique (1984). La Nueva constitución y los partidos. Lima: Centro Documentación Andina. ISBN 842490771X.
Stein, Steve (1981). "Populism in Peru: The Emergence of the Masses and the Politics of Social Control". Hispanic American Historical Review. 61 (3): 553–554. doi:10.1215/00182168-61.3.553.
González Calleja, Eduardo (1994). "La derecha latinoamericana en busca de un modelo fascista: la limitada influencia del falangismo en el Perú (1936-1945)" (PDF). Revista Complutense de Historia de América. 20. Madrid: Editorial Complutense.
Caldeira Neto, Odilon (2016). "Frente nacionalista, neofascismo e novas "direitas" no Brasil" [National Front, Neofascism and the "New Right" in Brazil]. Faces de Clio. 2 (4): 20–36.
Suárez Trejo, Javier (2018). "From Romana Gens to cumbiatella: propaganda, migration and identity in Italo-Peruvian mobilities". Modern Italy. 24 (1). Cambridge: Harvard University: 21–44. doi:10.1017/mit.2018.28.
Coronel, Omar (2024). "La nueva derecha radical de base en el Perú". Desafíos. 36 (2): 1–36. doi:10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/desafios/a.13841.
Nugent, David (November 2010). "States, secrecy, subversives: APRA and political fantasy in mid-20th-century Peru". American Ethnologist. 37 (4): 681–702. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01278.x.
Gonzales Alvarado, Osmar (2020). "José de la Riva Agüero y Felipe Sassone:dos pensadores sociales y el fascismo en el Perú" [José de la Riva Agüero and Felipe Sassone: Two social thinkers and Fascism in Peru]. Discursos del Sur, revista de teoría crítica en Ciencias Sociales (6): 75–96. doi:10.15381/dds.v0i6.19324. ISSN 2617-2283.
Gayozzo, Piero (2024). "Fascism in Peru: From Revolutionary Union to Legionary Action and Ethnocacerism". Fascism. 13 (2): 236–264. doi:10.1163/22116257-bja10080.