Francisco Remigio Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (4 October 1921 – 14 July 2022) was a Peruvian politician and general who was the ''de facto''

President of Peru The president of Peru ( es, link=no, presidente del Perú), officially called the president of the Republic of Peru ( es, link=no, presidente de la República del Perú), is the head of state and head of government of Peru. The president is th ...

(2nd President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces) between 1975 and 1980, after deposing his predecessor, General

Juan Velasco Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a Peruvian general who served as the President of Peru after a successful coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde's presidency in 1968. Under his presidency, nationa ...

. His grandfather and all his original family were from the old Peruvian department of Tarapacá, which is now part of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. Unable to control the political and economic troubles that the nation faced, he was forced to return power to civilian rule, marking the end of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces installed by a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in 1968.

Early years

Morales Bermúdez was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

on 4 October 1921. He was the son of Army Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez and grandson of ex-President

Remigio Morales Bermúdez Remigio Morales Bermúdez (30 September 1836 – 1 April 1894) served as the 28th President of Peru from 1890 to 1894. He died while still in office. He served as the first vice president from 1886 to 1890. His future grandson, whom he would n ...

. He received most of his education at Lima's ''Colegio Inmaculada''. In 1939, he was accepted into the ''Escuela Militar de Chorrillos'' (Chorrillos Military School). After his graduation, he was an important member of the ''Centro de Altos Estudios Militares'' (Center for Advanced Military Studies).

Political career

Morales Bermúdez achieved the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

and was appointed to his first political post in 1968 as Minister of Economy and Finance in the administration of

Fernando Belaúnde Fernando Sergio Marcelo Marcos Belaúnde Terry (October 7, 1912 – June 4, 2002) was a Peruvian politician who twice served as President of Peru (1963–1968 and 1980–1985). Deposed by a military coup in 1968, he was re-elected i ...

. Internal problems in government forced him to resign after two months. In 1968, after Belaúnde had been deposed by a coup, the military government led by General Juan Velasco asked him to return to the post of Minister of Economy and Finance. In 1974, he resigned again, this time because he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the

Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army ( es, Ejército del Perú, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missi ...

. In 1975, he was appointed to be both Velasco's prime minister and minister of war.

Presidency (1975–1980)

With President Velasco's health deteriorating, Morales Bermúdez led a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

against Velasco and took over as

on 29 August 1975, leading the country through one of its most severe

economic crises A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

. He diverged from the revolutionary nationalist-leaning tendencies of the first phase (1968–1975) of the Peruvian Revolution. His regime participated in

Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of op ...

, with Peruvian forces collaborating with the Intelligence Battalion 601 in the kidnapping of

Argentines Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

in 1980. Around the end of Morales Bermúdez's tenure, a housing crisis emerged which started the Lost Decade. Morales Bermúdez, politically pressured from all sides, failed in enacting successful political and economic reform. A

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

convened by the Morales Bermudez administration was created in 1978, which replaced the 1933 Constitution enacted during Óscar R. Benavides's presidency. After

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

were held in 1980, he returned power over to the first democratically elected government after 12 years of military rule, headed by President

Post-presidency (1980–2022)

After leaving office, Morales Bermúdez kept a relatively low profile in Peruvian politics, making sporadic speeches regarding the situation of the

Peruvian army The Peruvian Army ( es, Ejército del Perú, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missi ...

. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he made an unsuccessful run for the presidency, obtaining a fraction of one percent of the vote. Francisco Morales Bermúdez (cropped)

Morales Bermúdez was prosecuted by Italian judge Luisianna Figliolia for the

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

of 25 Italian citizens in Peru during

, a campaign backed by the United States government of political repression orchestrated by

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

South American

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

s during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. On 17 January 2017, the

Corte d'Assise The Corte d'Assise ( en, Court of Assizes) is an Italian court composed of two professional, stipendiary judges or ''giudici togati''; and six lay judges or ''giudici popolari'', who are selected from the people. The Corte d'Assise has jurisdictio ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

found Morales Bermúdez guilty and sentenced him to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

. On 16 June 2021, Morales Bermúdez was among 63 former Peruvian military officials who signed a letter calling on the Peruvian armed forces to "...according to what is established in Article 46 of the our Constitution, the Armed Forces would have the right to non-obedience and therefore to disavow as President and Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces and National Police a person who has been appointed by violating the Constitution and Laws of our country, being able to appeal to the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

of the Republic to provide a democratic solution in accordance with the Law" in response to the election that month of President-elect

Pedro Castillo José Pedro Castillo Terrones (; born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 to 7 December 2022. On 7 December 2022, he was impeached a ...

, the target of unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud by his opponent

Keiko Fujimori Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi (; ja, 藤森恵子, Fujimori Keiko; born 25 May 1975) is a Peruvian politician. Fujimori is the eldest daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. From August 1994 to November 200 ...

. The Ministry of Defense of Peru promptly issued a release where it clarified that this letter “does not represent the Armed Forces.” Morales Bermúdez turned 100 on 4 October 2021, and died at a hospital in the Miraflores District of Lima on 14 July 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales Bermudez, Francisco 1921 births 2022 deaths Presidents of Peru Men centenarians Peruvian anti-communists Peruvian centenarians Peruvian generals Peruvian people of Spanish descent Peruvian people of Portuguese descent Peruvian people of Italian descent

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

People from Lima Prime Ministers of Peru Peruvian Ministers of Economy and Finance Chorrillos Military School alumni Leaders who took power by coup Heads of government who were later imprisoned Peruvian politicians convicted of crimes