Francisco Morales-Bermúdez

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Francisco Morales-Bermúdez Cerruti
51st President of Peru
Armed Forces Revolutionary Government
In office
30 August 1975 – 28 July 1980
Prime MinisterOscar Vargas Prieto
Jorge Fernández-Maldonado
Guillermo Arbulú Galliani
Óscar Molina Pallochia
Pedro Richter Prada
Vice PresidentPedro Ritcher Prada
Preceded byJuan Velasco Alvarado
(President of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Government)
Succeeded byFernando Belaúnde
(Constitutional President)
112th Prime Minister of Peru
In office
1 February 1975 – 30 August 1975
PresidentJuan Velasco Alvarado
Preceded byLuis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín
Succeeded byOscar Vargas Prieto
Minister of War
In office
1 February 1975 – 30 August 1975
PresidentJuan Velasco Alvarado
Preceded byLuis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín
Succeeded byOscar Vargas Prieto
Minister of Economy and Finance
In office
13 June 1969 – 2 January 1974
PresidentJuan Velasco Alvarado
Preceded byÁngel Valdivia Morriberon (Minister of Finance and Commerce)
Succeeded byGuillermo Marcó del Pont
Personal details
Born(1921-10-04)4 October 1921
Lima, Peru
Died14 July 2022(2022-07-14) (aged 100)
Lima, Peru
NationalityPeruvian
ProfessionArmy General

Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (4 October 1921 – 14 July 2022) was a Peruvian general and politician. Bermudez was President of Peru from August 1975 through July 1980.[1][2] He ran for president in 1985, however he only got less than 1% of the vote.

At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former Peruvian president.

Early life[change | change source]

Born in Lima in 1921, he is the son of Army Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez and grandson of ex-President Remigio Morales Bermúdez. He received most of his education at Lima's Colegio Inmaculada. In 1939, he was accepted to the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos (Chorrillos Military School). After his graduation, he was an important member of the Centro de Altos Estudios Militares (CAEM).

Presidency[change | change source]

Morales Bermúdez led a military coup against General Juan Velasco Alvarado and took over as President of Peru on 29 August 1975, leading the country through one of its worst economic problems. He moved away from the socialist-leaning policies that the country had.

His regime took place in Operation Condor, the Peruvian services working with the Intelligence Battalion 601 in the kidnapping of Argentines in Lima in 1980.[3] Around the end of Morales Bermúdez's tenure, a housing crisis happened.[4]

Criminal charges[change | change source]

Morales Bermúdez was prosecuted by an Italian judge for the forced disappearance of 25 Italian citizens during Operation Condor, a campaign run by the United States government and his dictatorship.[5] On 17 January 2017, the Corte d'Assise in Rome found Morales Bermúdez guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.[6][7][8]

2021 coup comment[change | change source]

In June 2021, after left wing Pedro Castillo was elected president, Morales Bermúdez said he wanted the country's armed forces to do a coup d'état and removed Castillo from power.[9][10] He believed that the election was stolen from right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and that the results were not legitimate.[11]

Death[change | change source]

Morales-Bermúdez died on 14 July 2022 in Lima at the age of 100.[12]

References[change | change source]

  1. "A short history of Peru". Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  2. U.S. Department of State - Background Note: Peru
  3. "Wikiwix[archive]".
  4. Echeverría, Javier Iguiñiz (1987). "Perú: Crisis Económica y Democracia". Investigación Económica. 46 (179): 223–253. JSTOR 42813691.
  5. "RPP – Noticias del Perú y el Mundo | Radio | Podcast | RPP Noticias". rpp.pe. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007.
  6. "19 condanne e 8 assoluzioni: si chiude il processo Condor". Archived from the original on October 4, 2017.
  7. PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (January 17, 2017). "Morales Bermúdez condenado a cadena perpetua por Plan Cóndor | POLITICA". El Comercio Perú.
  8. PERU21, NOTICIAS (February 17, 2017). "Francisco Morales Bermúdez: ¿Por qué Italia condenó al ex dictador peruano? | POLITICA". Peru21. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. Serra, Ricardo Sanchez (June 18, 2021). "Carta de oficiales en retiro a altos mando militares". Federación de Periodistas del Perú.
  10. "Tension increases in Peru between calls from ex-military and persecution campaigns against the left". Market Research Telecast. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  11. PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (June 18, 2021). "Ministerio de Defensa y el CCFFAA consideran apócrifa carta de supuestos militares en retiro | ELECCIONES-2021". El Comercio Perú.
  12. Francisco Morales Bermúdez falleció a los 100 años