The Agricultural People's Front of Peru (; FREPAP) is an agrarian
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' 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 divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
and "the reincarnation of the
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
". 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 () is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be Vacancy due to moral incapacity (Per ...
, which was held by Javier Noriega Febres. Noriega was later accused of being the head of a
hitmen
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...
group by the government of
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.*
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* Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
.
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 (, , Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ) is the policies and the List of political ideologies, political ideology of former President of Peru, President of Peru Alberto Fujimori as well as the personality cult built around him, his polici ...
(
Peru 2000
Peru 2000 () 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 in his second re-election a ...
) after receiving money from Presidential Advisor and Intelligence Chief
Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...
. 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
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
and the decentralization of populated cities by forming agrarian communities. The party and its main religious organization AEMINPU have 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, thus ...
and
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
traits in economic matters, while being heavily
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
on social matters.
They list their ideology as the following:
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Theocratic
Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's daily a ...
– The recognition of
divine law
Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a Transcendence (religion), 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, di ...
to confront corruption and to promote noble politicians
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Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
– Defending of Peru's identity, culture and natural resources
* Tahuantinsuyonism – Promoting the organization and moral ethics of the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
* Revolution – Moving those experiencing misery within Peru towards a path of liberty and self-reliance
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Agrarianism
Agrarianism is a social philosophy, social and political philosophy that advocates for rural development, a Rural area, rural agricultural lifestyle, family farming, widespread property ownership, and political decentralization. Those who adhere ...
– The promotion of
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
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 is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...
through the promotion of agricultural industry and
decentralization
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
, which they believe will improve socioeconomic standards. For
macroeconomic policies
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output/ GDP ...
, FREPAP believes tourism should be secondary to agriculture and that science and technology should be promoted to develop
human capital
Human capital or human assets is a concept used by economists 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 subs ...
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 (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
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.
FREPAP's parent organization has been recognized as a
cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
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 ...
for urban voters. Anthropology professor of the
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (, 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 institution of higher learning in the country.
The Peru ...
, 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".
See also
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Israelites of the New Universal Pact
The Israelites of the New Universal Pact (''Misión Israelita del Nuevo Pacto Universal'') is a South American religious sect, mostly concentrated in Peru. The evangelical Christian sect was founded in the Junin province of Peru in 1960 by Ezequi ...
Evangelical political parties in Latin America
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...