Peru-Internal Threats

The Peruvian armed forces have had to face several internal threats to national security since the 1930s. APRA, Peru's first mass-based political party, mounted at least seven attempts to take power by force between 1931 and 1948, after being frustrated in its efforts to gain access through elections. Its reformist agenda was perceived as revolutionary and totally unacceptable to the senior military command, although the party did have some success in gaining support among junior officers, NCOs, and even an occasional senior official. The most serious of the APRA coup attempts were the revolt of February 1939, led by army General Antonio Rodríguez, second vice president and minister of government in the administration of General Oscar Raimundo Benavides (president, 1914-15, 1933-39), and the October 1948 naval revolt in Callao by APRA cells among junior officers. Both were put down violently by loyal army forces, but had the effect of further inflaming military opposition to APRA because of the party's attempts to subvert the integrity of the military institution itself. This military opposition lingered well into the 1960s even though the 1948 revolt was APRA's last attempt to gain power by force.

Data as of September 1992