Carlos Roca Cáceres (born 20 March 1946) is a

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 ...

vian politician. A prominent member of the Peruvian Aprista Party, he was signaled in his youth as one of Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre's main disciples, alongside future President of Peru,

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the American Popula ...

. In his political career, he served in the Constituent Assembly of 1978–1979, which drafted the Constitution of 1979, in the now-abolished Chamber of Deputies, and finally as Peruvian Ambassador to Italy, appointed in Alan García's second presidency. Currently, Roca serves as Director of the Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre House Museum. In the party, he served as National Secretary of International Affairs from 2010 to 2017.

Early life and education

Born in Downtown Lima on 20 March 1946, he registered at 16 years old in the Peruvian Aprista Party after witnessing Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre's "Veto Speech", in which the founder of the APRA denounced the military veto against his presidential nomination's first place in the election turnout in 1962. After finishing his high school studies in the Breña District, he enrolled in 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 ...

, finishing the humanities curriculum in 1963. He ultimately dropped out and travelled to Italy to finish this undergraduate degree at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, graduating in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in political science.

Political career

Upon the culmination of his degree, he went back to

to start a career in the Peruvian Aprista Party's youth wing. In 1970, he was selected among the most talented young members of the party to the National Bureau of Conjunctions, under Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre's leadership. Alongside future party leader

and Víctor Polay, he was considered a rising star in the party, and even as a long-term successor to Haya. In 1978, he was elected to the

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 ...

. In his task of drafting a new Constitution, he personally assisted Haya, who served as President of the Assembly. Upon Haya's death in August 1979, Roca took a prominent role in his wake, propelling him as one of the party's future congressional nominees for the 1980 election. In 1980, he was overwhelmingly elected to the lower house of the newly inaugurated Peruvian Congress, representing the

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

constituency with the Peruvian Aprista Party. That same year, he was appointed by the party's national convention as International Affairs Secretary. His rising figure in the party leadership would ultimately fade away with

's election as Secretary-General in 1982. Reelected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1985, he was not part Alan García's cabinet, solely serving in his position as congressman. He was reelected for a third term in 1990, although his term was interrupted in 1992 due to

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.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

self-coup A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...

, which dissolved Congress. Roca would try to regain his seat in Congress in 1995, but was not elected, obtaining a few share of votes as the Peruvian Aprista Party only gained 8 seats. He was selected as the party's nominee for Mayor of

for the 1998 election, placing third with 5% of the popular vote, losing to incumbent Mayor Alberto Andrade. In 2001 and 2006, Roca unsuccessfully ran for Congress. In Alan García second administration, he was appointed Peruvian Ambassador to Italy, serving from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Roca was selected as the party's nominee for Mayor of

for a second time, but withdrew before the election. Since 2010, he has served as Director of the Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre House Museum. From 2010 to 2017, he served once again as International Affairs Secretary. He remains a loyal member of the party. His opinion is usually sought by the media relating to the Peruvian Aprista Party's history and its renovation. He is critical of the party's current internal crisis since before

's suicide in 2019. He unsuccessfully ran for the party's leadership election in October 2019, losing to César Trelles Lara. His followers accused the electoral tribunal of fraud in favor of Trelles, although Roca remained hopeful of the party's recovery in popularity. Following the Peruvian Aprista Party's failure to gain congressional seats in the 2020 parliamentary snap election, he criticized the controversial congressional nominations selected by the party's executive committee, blaming the poor results on the current leadership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roca, Carlos 1946 births Living people Politicians from Lima Pontifical Catholic University of Peru alumni University of Turin alumni American Popular Revolutionary Alliance politicians