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Rafael Bernardo López Aliaga Cazorla (born 11 February 1961) is a
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 ...
vian businessman and politician, who is serving as
mayor of Lima The following is a list of Lima's mayors through the 20th and 21st centuries. '' Alcaldes ordinarios'' of the first and the second vote Mayors of Lima See also * Timeline of Lima {{Peru lists Lima Mayors In many countries, a ...
since 2023. He is currently the leader of Popular Renewal Entering politics late in his career, López Aliaga was elected to
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 t ...
's Metropolitan Council, serving under mayor
Luis Castañeda Lossio Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archa ...
's second term. Following a failed run for the Peruvian Congress in 2011, he remained a member of National Solidarity but stayed in the private sector. It was not until 2019 when he assumed the leadership of his party as General Secretary following Castañeda's pretrial detention for a corruption trial. At the 2020 parliamentary election, López Aliaga gained political attention as he started shifting his party further to the
right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...
. Eventually, National Solidarity failed to attain congressional representation in election. Announcing a presidential bid, he was elected president of his party in order to lead a reconstruction process, effectively re-founding the party as Popular Renewal. López Aliaga ran for
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 ...
at the 2021 general election. Fighting for the right-wing vote alongside
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 2000 ...
and Hernando de Soto, he eventually placed third with 11.75% of the popular vote. Following the election of
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 ...
as president, López Aliaga has been considered as the most visible leader of the Peruvian right, and recognized as the current
leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. He ran successfully for the mayorship of Lima in
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
, narrowly winning with a 26.32% of the vote. As a businessman, López Aliaga is the founder and a shareholder of Peruval Corp SA, in addition to being a shareholder of Ferrocarril Transandino SA, both train companies based in
Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru ...
. Since 1991, he serves as chairman of the board of directors of Peru Tourism Holding (PTHSAA).


Early life and education

López Aliaga 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 t ...
on 11 February 1961, but was raised in
Chiclayo Chiclayo (; qu, Chiklayu) is the principal city of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. It is located inland from the Pacific coast and from the nation's capital, Lima. Founded by Spanish explorers as "Santa María de los Valles de Chicla ...
,
Lambayeque Region Lambayeque () is a department and region in northwestern Peru known for its rich Moche and Chimú historical past. The region's name originates from the ancient pre-Inca civilization of the '' Lambayeque''. It is the second-smallest departmen ...
. His father, Fernando López Aliaga, worked in the city's Hacienda Pomalca while his mother, Paula Cazorla, was from the Cajamarca Region. Both of his parents were
chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
s. Upon graduating from San Agustín School of Chiclayo, López Aliaga was admitted to the Pedro Ruiz Gallo National University to study
industrial engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information an ...
. He subsequently dropped out due to the political unrest of the 1980s. Relocating in
Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru located in the Sechura Desert on the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017. It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro ...
, he was admitted to the University of Piura to study industrial engineering, completing the degree in four years and graduating first in his class. He obtained a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
. Later, he obtained a master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of the Pacífic, and completed the Senior Management Program (PAD) at the University of Piura. López Aliaga pursued a career in banking, serving at first in Banco Wiese es, and as Corporate and Development Banking Manager at
Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City Ba ...
. Subsequently, he founded Peruvian Corp, a securities enterprise, and Grupo Acres, a hotel and railway finance company. Since 1999, he has been a co shareholder along with Lorenzo Sousa of
PeruRail PeruRail is a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru. It was founded in 1999 by two Peruvian entrepreneurs and the British company Sea Containers. The main line between the port of Matarani, Arequip ...
as well as
Belmond Belmond may refer to: Places *Belmond, Iowa Organisations *Belmond Limited Hotels *Belmond El Encanto * Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo *Belmond Hotel Cipriani * Belmond Hotel Monasterio * Belmond Hotel Rio Sagrado * Belmond La Résidence d'Angkor * Be ...
's hotels and Trasandino Railway in Peru.


Political career

Entering politics through the Lima City Council in 2007, López Aliaga maintained a low profile until 2019, when he was elected to the general secretaryship of National Solidarity in September 2019. Following the dissolution of the Peruvian Congress, his party was set to run at the 2020 parliamentary election. Initially a moderate conservative, López Aliaga adopted a
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 in ...
platform. He also ran for a seat in Congress in 2011 under the
National Solidarity Alliance The National Solidarity Alliance ( es, Alianza Solidaridad Nacional, ASN) was an electoral alliance in Peru formed for the 2011 general election, dominated by the eponymous National Solidarity Party and led by presidential candidate Luis Casta ...
, but he was unsuccessful.


2021 Peruvian presidential election

During the 2020 campaign, López Aliaga announced his intention to run for
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 ...
at the 2021 general election, stating in a televised interview that he considered himself to be "the Peruvian
Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...
". Following his party's poor results at the 2020 parliamentary election, he announced an organizational re-foundation. In October 2020, López Aliaga officially founded Popular Renewal, effectively dissolving National Solidarity by changing the registered organization's name and platform. Assuming the position of party president, he stated that the party is "re-founded with principles of solidarity and anchored in God, Christ." He campaigns on a
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
platform on economic issues and a conservative one on societal issues. A member of
Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work a ...
, he is sometimes described as a
religious fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...
. He calls for a ban on
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduct ...
in colleges, which he sees as a form of " cultural Marxism" promoting homosexuality, a ban on
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
, including in cases of rape or danger to the life of the mother, and a ban on gay marriage. As part of his campaign, he stated the voting in 2021 would be "the last free election in Peru" and "if we don't go well, this will be Venezuela or Cuba, remember me". He also blamed presidents
Martín Vizcarra Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo (; born 22 March 1963) is a Peruvian engineer and politician who served as President of Peru from 2018 to 2020. Vizcarra previously served as Governor of the Department of Moquegua (2011–2014), First Vice Pre ...
and
Francisco Sagasti Francisco Rafael Sagasti Hochhausler OSP ( (); born 10 October 1944) is a Peruvian engineer, academic, and author who served as the President of Peru from November 2020 to July 2021. Sagasti has worked as an advisor for economic development at ...
for Peru's economic issues, describing the Vizcarra administration as a "communist style of the government" and called Sagasti a "clown". He proposed further deregulation of Peru and the elimination of half of its ministries. According to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', human rights groups were "alarmed by his use of conspiracy theories, disinformation and hate speech against opponents and journalists". In an interview conducted on January 19, 2021 on the
ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...
channel, he generated controversy with the metaphorical opinion he provided regarding his stance against abortion in rape cases. The words he mentioned were: “I am a hotelier. I have five-star hotels, for me to give a 5-star hotel as a home for a girl is to give her the most affection I can. On February 19, 2021, the Special Electoral Jury (JEE) initiated a sanctioning process against the candidacy of Rafael López Aliaga for violating electoral propaganda regulations. This measure was approved because the applicant said that upon reaching the presidency "he will donate his salary to charitable organizations". He was temporarily disqualified from the presidential election on 25 February 2021 for alleged vote-buying based on his statement that if he was elected President, he will donate his salary to charity. Hernando de Soto, his political rival in the 2021 elections, appeared at the demonstration outside the JNE, where Aliaga was, whom he praised. On March 12, 2021, he presented his technical team, which included former ministers Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre, Carlos Herrera Descalzi, Alfonso Velásquez Tuesta, former Vice Minister Eduardo Ponce Vivanco, former Vice President of the Republic, Máximo San Román, the former parliamentarian Fabiola Morales Castillo, the former president of the Judiciary Javier Villa Stein, the former director general of the Police José Tisoc Lindley, among others.


2022 Lima mayoral election

In the aftermath of the first round of the 2021 general election, López Aliaga confirmed his bid for
mayor of Lima The following is a list of Lima's mayors through the 20th and 21st centuries. '' Alcaldes ordinarios'' of the first and the second vote Mayors of Lima See also * Timeline of Lima {{Peru lists Lima Mayors In many countries, a ...
in the upcoming 2022 mayoral election. Leading the polls early into the election, López Aliaga trailed behind former congressman and Interior minister,
Daniel Urresti Daniel Belizario Urresti Elera (born 25 August 1956) is a Demographics of Peru, Peruvian retired army general and politician who served as Ministry of the Interior (Peru), Minister of the Interior in the administration of President Ollanta Huma ...
, who ran for a second time for the mayorship following his defeat to Jorge Muñoz at the
2018 Lima municipal election Municipal elections in Lima were held on 7 October 2018. 82.56% of eligible voters cast ballots in the election. The mayoral election produced the following results: #Jorge Muñoz Wells—1,907,693 #Daniel Urresti—1,042,481 #Renzo Reggiardo—469 ...
. As part of his campaign, López Aliaga promised to fight crime with support of the reservists group of the Peruvian Armed Forces, in addition to calling for a radical reform of the capital's transportation system. His campaign was managed by former right-wing congressmen Julio Gagó and
Renzo Reggiardo Renzo Andrés Reggiardo Barreto (born 1 July 1972) is a Peruvian politician from Popular Renewal, businessman and a former Congressman representing the constituency of Lima for two terms, between 2006 and 2016. In 2018, he ran unsuccessfully for ...
, with the latter running for lieutenant mayor. At the election, Popular Renewal placed first by receiving 26.35% of the popular vote, claiming victory for López Aliaga, in addition winning twelve districts of the capital. In contrast to previous municipal elections, no winning candidate for
mayor of Lima The following is a list of Lima's mayors through the 20th and 21st centuries. '' Alcaldes ordinarios'' of the first and the second vote Mayors of Lima See also * Timeline of Lima {{Peru lists Lima Mayors In many countries, a ...
since 1963 had been elected by less than 30% of the vote, making him the least voted winner in the history of the capital.


Ideology and views

Rafael López Aliaga regards himself as a "social Christian" Observers have placed him as
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...
to
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...
, and ideologically
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 in ...
. López Aliaga has said that he is
celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...
and is a
member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of
Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work a ...
. He opposes
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, the use of
contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
, the
legalization of marijuana The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
and
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
. In Peru, he is commonly known under the nickname "Porky", referring to the ''Porky Pig Show''. Aliaga adopted his nickname for his campaign, so he occasionally costumed himself as pig to protest against the omnipresent corruption in the country. López Aliaga signed the '' Madrid Charter'', a document drafted by the Spanish party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of
Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spai ...
involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime". He signed the document along with other right-wing politicians such as
Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician, businessman and economist currently serving as a federal deputy of Buenos Aires. Milei became widely known for his regular television appearances where he has been critical ...
of Argentina, José Antonio Kast 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 ...
and
Eduardo Bolsonaro Eduardo Nantes Bolsonaro (born 10 July 1984) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and federal police officer. He is the third child of Jair Bolsonaro, the 38th President of Brazil. Career He has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 20 ...
of Brazil, the son of President
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...
. On the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, he opposes travel restrictions and the use of masks. He himself does not generally use masks in his public appearances, although he explains that he sometimes wears them "so that the press does not criticise im" He advocates that the vaccination campaign should be left to the private sector and that individuals should pay for access to vaccination. According to ''Vice'', López Aliaga has disseminated
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...
about COVID-19 vaccines in Peru, accusing President Sagasti of committing "
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the L ...
" for purchasing what he called ineffective vaccines. A month before elections, López Aliaga called for the removal of President Sagasti from office, raising concerns among presidential candidates that he was promoting a coup against the president. On economic issues, he wants to favour private investment and limit the presence of the state. He proposed to abolish social programmes such as food distribution in poor schools, believing that social assistance should be handled by private associations and not by the public authorities.


Investigations

According to Peruvian media, López Aliaga has been allegedly involved in controversies surrounding his finances. He was investigated by the Congress of Peru in 2001 regarding allegations of
tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...
. The
Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
scandal in 2017 mentioned López Aliaga as allegedly being involved with
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdiction ...
. During the campaign his businesses were accused of having a large debt with the SUNAT and of not paying personal debts to the state. On 18 July 2021, the Public Ministry of Peru opened an investigation into Willax journalists Philip Butters, Humberto Ortiz and Enrique Luna Victoria, alleging that they were responsible for acts of sedition and inciting
civil unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty ...
. Prosecutor Juana Meza wrote that Willax disseminated "news with a conspiratorial connotation, inciting the electoral results to be unknown, trying to weaken the electoral institutions and even calling for a coup d'état" and was used as a platform "to send messages of hatred and incitement to kill". Rafael López Aliaga was also named in the investigation. López Aliaga reportedly called for death in two separate incidents; in May 2021 he chanted "Death to communism! Death to Cerrón! Death to Castillo!" to supporters and at the Respect My Vote rally that was organized by Willax TV owner
Erasmo Wong Lu use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...
on 26 June 2021, where the politician stated "Death to communism, get out of here, filthy communists, you have awakened the lion, to the streets!"


Electoral history


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Aliaga, Rafael Popular Renewal politicians National Solidarity Party (Peru) politicians Opus Dei members 1961 births Living people Peruvian politicians Peruvian people of Spanish descent Peruvian people of Italian descent Peruvian people of Swiss descent Peruvian anti-communists Candidates for President of Peru University of Piura alumni University of the Pacific (Peru) alumni People from Lima People from Lambayeque Region Signers of the Madrid Charter