1968 Peruvian coup d'état

October 1968 event the Page 11 Scandal and the Cold War Velasco_y_Belaunde_antes_del_golpe.jpg Juan Velasco Alvarado and Belaunde hours before the coup 3 October 1968 Palacio de Gobierno, Lima Overthrow of President Fernando Belaúnde Terry and the Congress of Peru. Juan Velasco Alvarado becomes President of Peru Peru state Government of Peru Peru military Armed Forces of Peru Insignia of the President of Peru.svg Fernando Belaúnde Terry Peru military Juan Velasco AlvaradoPeru military Francisco Morales-Bermúdez 1968 Peruvian coup d'état The 1968 Peruvian coup d'état took place during the first presidency of Fernando Belaúnde (1963–1968) as a result of political disputes becoming the norm, serious arguments between President Belaúnde and Congress, dominated by the APRA-UNO (Unión Nacional Odríista) coalition, and even clashes between the president and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party. Congress went on to censor several cabinets of the Belaúnde administration, and a general political instability was perceived. General Juan Velasco Alvarado led the coup.https://books.google.com/books?id=XHJHAAAAIAAJ The Peruvian Coup D'état of 1968: The Goals and Policies of the Military Government Careaga Rogelio Antonio 1978 Graduate Division Special Programs, Political Economy, Stanford University enKlarén Peter F. The Velasco Revolution in Peru, 1968–1975 2025 Coups d'État in Cold War Latin America, 1964–1982 68–87 Coleman Kevin https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/coups-detat-in-cold-war-latin-america-19641982/velasco-revolution-in-peru-19681975/6241EB713F1D73977EBCBBB8C206D4CA Cambridge University Press 10.1017/9781009344821.004 978-1-009-34483-8 Carassai Sebastián subscription Context A dispute with the International Petroleum Company over licenses to the La Brea y Pariñas oil fields in Talara Province, northern Peru, sparked a national scandal when a key page of a contract (the 11th) was found missing. The Armed Forces, fearing that this scandal might lead to another uprising or a takeover from the APRA party, seized absolute power and closed down Congress, almost all of whose members were briefly incarcerated. General Velasco seized power on October 3, 1968, in a bloodless military coup, deposing the democratically elected administration of Fernando Belaúnde, under which he served as Commander of the Armed Forces. President Belaúnde was put on a plane to Argentina, where he was sent into exile. Initial reaction against the coup evaporated after five days when, on October 8, 1968, the oil fields in dispute were taken over by the Army.Rozman Stephen L. 1970 The Evolution of the Political Role of the Peruvian Military Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 12 4 539–564 10.2307/174827 0022-1937 174827 Coup d'état At 1:00 AM on Thursday, October 3, 1968, an armored squadron of tanks went from the Tank Division towards the Presidential Palace in the capital city of Lima, along with support from the armed forces. The intention was to avoid confrontation with the palace guards with an early attack. Although rumors of a coup and of a possible overthrow circulated around the Council of Ministers and Presidential Cabinet, no special measures were taken in the event of defending the palace from mutiny. Additionally, due to the early timing, the chief military aide to President Belaúnde was still sleeping at his home away from the Presidential Palace, and the Presidential Guards immediately surrendered at the sight of the armored squadron at the steps of the pavilion.Peruvian Democracy Under Economic Stress Kuczynski Pedro Pablo Princeton University Press 2015 9781400869923 273 At 2 AM, President Belaúnde was woken up and dragged out of his bed in his pajamas by Velasco-Alvarado and his militants. Belaúnde offered no resistance. Close advisers to Belaúnde also reportedly saw him as being drugged the night before the coup, presumably by traitors in the presidential residence itself. Ousting of Belaúnde Terry thumb|Military vehicles in Lima during the coup After hearing a barrage of bullets outside the palace in the morning, Belaúnde found himself alone in the Presidential Palace along with a couple of other family members and ministers. In the morning, a group of officers found Belaunde and informed him of his arrest at gunpoint. Belaúnde, furious, exclaimed, "Identify yourself, you miserable traitor. You are talking to the Constitutional President of the Republic!" The group backed off, and Colonel Enrique Gallegos explained Velasco's orders for his deportation to him. Belaúnde responded, "You sons of...traitors...unworthy of the uniform that the country has entrusted to you. You are dismissed! Bringing so many tanks and guns just to detain an unarmed man! Shoot me then, damn it!"The Peruvian coup d'état of 1968 : the goals and policies of the military government https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/41962405 Ann Arbor, Mich : University Microfilms International 1979 Thesis en Rogelio Antonio Careaga President Belaúnde attempted to resist arrest. Four officers threw themselves at President Belaúnde, taking him by the arms and holding him back. He was then detained. Following the coup d'état, at 7 AM, Belaúnde was taken to a barracks and was forcibly taken to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao, Peru. Velasco, having assumed authority, immediately ordered Belaúnde to be deported and ordered an APSA jet to the runway of the airport. Belaúnde was forced into the jet, and the exiled president was deported to Argentina. Belaúnde would spend the next years of Velasco's regime in both Argentina and the United States as a professor. Council of Ministers The President of the Council of Ministers, as well as many other ministers, was rushed at their homes and the presidential palace. They immediately surrendered. Prior to being attacked and hearing of Belaúnde's arrest, the President of the Council of Ministers attempted to establish order by calling an emergency Cabinet meeting to swear in the Vice President, Mario Polar. The insurgents detained the vice president, while only three ministers attended. Aftermath Immediately after the coup, the military nationalized the International Petroleum Company.1976-10-18 Marcona: A Takeover Without Retaliation https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/18/archives/marcona-a-takeover-without-retaliation-marcona-takeover-without-a.html 2025-09-20 New York Times en This set off a dispute between Peru and the United States, with the United States seeking compensation.Gantz David A. 1977 The Marcona Settlement: New Forms of Negotiation and Compensation for Nationalized Property https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/marcona-settlement-new-forms-of-negotiation-and-compensation-for-nationalized-property/7E80982824113F974E2E2F8A7AAC6680 American Journal of International Law en 71 3 474–493 10.2307/2200013 0002-9300 subscription Further reading Cynthia McClintock and Abraham Lowenthal, eds., The Peruvian Experiment Reconsidered (Princeton, 1983) Nunn, Frederick M. (1979). "Professional Militarism in Twentieth-Century Peru: Historical and Theoretical Background to the Golpe de Estado of 1968". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 59 (3): 391–417. George Philip, The Rise and Fall of the Peruvian Military Radicals, 1968–1976 (London, 1978) Juan Martín Sánchez, La Revolución Peruana: Ideología y Práctica Política de un Gobierno Militar, 1968–1975 (Sevilla, 2002) Ernest Preeg, The Evolution of a Revolution: Peru and its Relations with the United States, 1968–1980 (Washington, DC, 1981) Dirk Kruijt, Revolution by Decree: Peru, 1968–1975 (Amsterdam, 1994) Sharp, Daniel A. (1972). U.S. Foreign Policy and Peru. University of Texas Press. References Category:1968 in Peru Category:Peruvian Army Category:October 1968 in South America Category:1960s coups d'état Category:1968 conflicts Category:1968 in politics Category:History of Lima Category:Coups d'état in Peru Category:Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru