Document #1271781
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
No party under the name of Izquierdista
(leftist) is reported among the currently available sources. As
requested later by telephone, this response includes general
information on political groups of Peru often described as
leftist.
In Peru, [Information compiled from:
Latin American Political Movements (Essex: Longman Group,
Ltd., 1985), chapter on Peru; Andean Group Report (Latin
American Regional Reports), various issues; Latin America Daily
Report, (FBIS, 19 December 1988, p.41); Political Parties of
the World (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984), chapter on Peru;
Caretas, issues from October 1988 to December 1989;
1986-1989 International Yearbooks on International Communist
Affairs (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1984-89), chapters
on Peru; The Europa World Yearbooks 1986-1989, (London:
Europa Publications, 1986-1989); Werlich, David P., "Peru:
García loses his charm", Current History, January
1988.] more than 40 parties described as Marxist or left-wing
operate legally, most of them forming coalitions. A few have gone
underground, including the small political groupings comprising the
"Comité Comunista Unificado Marxista Leninista" (CCUML,
Marxist-Leninist Unified Communist Committee), of which the
"Sendero Luminoso" is the dominant group. The largest coalition of
legal Marxist parties is the Izquierda Unida (IU, United Left),
which was formed in 1980. A recent coalition formed by Marxist
parties separating from the IU is the "Acuerdo Socialista (ASI,
Socialist Agreement), led by former IU leader Alfonso Barrantes.
The IU coalition is currently headed by Jorge del Prado, who is
also head of the Peruvian Communist Party. The number of IU mayors
elected in the 1989 municipal elections was higher than in 1986.
The United Left leads the opposition in Congress, holding almost a
third of the seats in both chambers, while various recent polls
have put the coalition again in second place for the upcoming
(April 1990) presidential elections, following the leading Fredemo
coalition (an opposition group formed by non-Marxist parties).
As stated above, not all Marxist parties
belong to a coalition. An example is the Socialist Party (Partido
Socialista, PS), one of the oldest political parties in Peru. The
PS was reportedly [Sources indicate the PS and PCP have different
versions of their origins, as each claims to follow Mari tegui's
original line.] formed and led by Peruvian Marxist writer
José Carlos Mari tegui, after whose death Eudosio Rabines
took control of the party and renamed it the Peruvian Communist
Party (PCP). Other closer associates of Mari tegui, however,
decided to disregard this move and continued with the PS.
However, not all "leftist" parties in Peru
are Marxist. An example is the FNTC/FRENATRACA party (Frente
Nacional de Trabajadores y Campesinos, or National Front of
Peasants and Workers). It was founded in 1968 and renamed
"Izquierda Nacionalista" (IN, Nationalist Left) in 1984, although
running in the 1989 municipal elections under its old name. It was
formed in the southern highlands, where it is strongest. The party
holds seats in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and won the
1986 and 1989 municipal elections in Arequipa, Peru's second
largest city, as well as in other places such as the southern city
of Moquegua. It claims to represent Peru's indigenous ancestral
identity.
At the same time, the President and his
currently ruling party, the "Alianza Popular Revolucionaria
Americana" (APRA, American Popular Revolutionary Alliance), have
been described by various reports as "leftist" and
"centre-left".
General elections took place in 1985, with
the IU coalition obtaining the second largest number of votes both
for Congress and President. Although Alan García (APRA) did
not obtain the absolute majority (that is, more than 50 percent of
the votes) required for being automatically declared president, IU
candidate Alfonso Barrantes declined to participate in a run-off
election, since he considered his votes were too few (approximately
20 percent, vs. García's 45 percent) to justify the second
election's cost. Although having lost the support of the ASI
parties, the IU won in a significant number of districts and
provinces in the November 1989 municipal elections. The Izquierda
Nacionalista also improved its position in these elections. APRA
suffered a serious setback: after winning a large majority of
municipalities in 1986, it finished a distant third at the 1989
polls.
For general information on political events
in Peru in 1985, please refer to sources available at your regional
Documentation Centre such as The Europa World Year Book, the
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1985 and its
corresponding Critique by Human Rights Watch,
Encyclopedia of the Third World and other documents on Peru.
For 1989, in addition to the information presented above, please
find attached the following documents (as we informed you by
telephone, one of the attachments is in Spanish):
-"Left is no longer a united front", in Latin American Weekly
Report, 23 March 1989, pp. 10-11;
-"Unofficial Regional Election Results Announced", Lima
Television Peruana [Spanish], 14 November 1989,
(FBIS-LAT-89-219, pp. 67-68);
-Caretas (Peruvian weekly newsmagazine), 14 November 1989:
"Los otros ganadores", pp. 18-19 (gives unofficial results of
municipal elections in the province of Lima), and "Derrota de las
Izquierdas" (Defeat of the Lefts; an editorial comment on the
Peruvian leftist political groups, a brief review of their recent
history, performance and possibilities in the near future), p.
25.