The Agricultural People's Front of Peru ( es, Frente Popular Agrícola del Perú; FREPAP) is an agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, founded in 1989 by Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal. The party had 42,083 members in 2020.

History

Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal created the Evangelical Association of the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Covenant ( - AEMINPU) in 1968, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stating, "The messianic sect behind the party was founded in 1968 by Ezequiel Ataucusi, a self-styled spiritual leader who called himself the 'Christ of the west'". Followers of the movement regard Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal as a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

and "the reincarnation of the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

". The Agricultural People's Front of Peru party was officially founded by Ataucusi on 30 September 1989. In 1995, the party received one seat in the

Congress of the Republic of Peru The Congress of the Republic of Peru ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Congress' composition is established by Chapter I of Title IV of the Constitution of Peru. Congress is compose ...

, which was held by Javier Noriega Febres. Noriega was later accused of being the head of a

hitmen Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

group by the government of

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator, * * * * * * he remains a ...

. The party was elected into two seats during the 2000 general election. The two seats, which were for Luis Cáceres Velásquez and his son Roger Cáceres Pérez, characters who joined the ranks of

Fujimorism Fujimorism () denotes the policies and the political ideology of former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori as well as the personality cult built around him, his policies and his family. The ideology is defined by authoritarianism, its support for ...

(

Peru 2000 Peru 2000 ( es, Perú 2000, link=Yes) was a Peruvian right-wing political alliance that fielded candidates for the 2000 general elections. Alberto Fujimori and his political allies ran on the Peru 2000 ticket in which, Fujimori was triumphant ...

) after receiving money from Presidential Advisor and Intelligence Chief

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...

. Ataucusi died in 2000 and was placed in a glass coffin, with followers expecting his resurrection. Since the death of Ataucusi, the party experienced internal conflict. In the 2000s, the party won minor district and regional elections. The party lost its legal registration in 2010 and regained it in 2015. In the 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election, the party received multiple seats in the Congress for the first time in nearly two decades.

Ideology

FREPAP calls for a strict adherence to the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

and the decentralization of populated cities by forming agrarian communities. The party and its main religious organization AEMINPU has been described as having

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

traits in economic matters, while being heavily

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

on social matters. They list their ideology as the following: *

Theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fro ...

– The recognition of

divine law Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or godsin contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically ...

to confront corruption and to promote noble politicians *

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

– Defending of Peru's identity, culture and natural resources * Tahuantinsuyonism – Promoting the organization and moral ethics of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

* Revolution – Moving those experiencing misery within Peru towards a path of liberty and self-reliance *

Agrarianism Agrarianism is a political and social philosophy that has promoted subsistence agriculture, smallholdings, and egalitarianism, with agrarian political parties normally supporting the rights and sustainability of small farmers and poor peasants ...

– The promotion of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

as a way to improve the socioeconomic standards of Peru in every dimension * Integration – Unifying all Peruvians to benefit the nation

Policy

The party calls for the elimination of

extreme poverty Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...

through the promotion of agricultural industry and

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, which they believe will improve socioeconomic standards. For

macroeconomic policies Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...

, FREPAP believes tourism should be secondary to agriculture and that science and technology should be promoted to develop

human capital Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...

in order to replace Peru's commodity-driven economy, strengthening the competitiveness of the nation. Regarding the environment, FREPAP calls for the use of

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

and the protection of Peru's biodiversity. FREPAP believes that the Peruvian government needs to focus on transparency, accountability and preventing corruption, and has advocated in favor of repealing parliamentary immunity.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Elections to the Congress of the Republic

Senate elections

Reception

FREPAP's parent organization has been recognized as a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

by some media commentators and scholars. According to Francisco Toro of the Group of Fifty, FREPAP is "a party based on a messianic cult". According to Peruvian anthropologist Carlos Ráez Suárez, FREPAP saw success in the 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election due to its logistics, its policy proposals for rural supporters and as a

protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

for urban voters. Anthropology professor of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Pontifical Catholic University of Peru ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic Church, being the oldest private ...

, María Eugenia Ulfe, stated that the elections "punished traditional parties with strong links to corruption and little regional presence" and some Peruvians skeptical about corrupt politicians "think a person with a religious vocation is not going to rob you or be corrupt".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agricultural People's Front Of Peru Political parties established in 1968 Political parties in Peru Agrarian parties Protestant political parties Conservative parties in Peru Socialist parties in Peru Christian fundamentalism Environmentalism in Peru Peruvian nationalism Theocracy Evangelicalism in South America Protestantism in Peru Syncretic political movements