Second Independence, National History and Myth-Making Heroes in the Peruvian Nationalizing State: The Government of Juan Velasco Alvarado, 1968-1975

Abstract

This article examines the rhetoric and visual discourse of the first phase of the military regime in Peru (1968-1975), explaining the remaking of national history as a pivotal component of a larger cultural project. Contrasting previous processes of nation and state making, Juan Velasco Alvarado and his officers depicted the preceding nation as a failure, one which could be overcome through a so-called authentic revolution. In claiming the making of this revolution, they recast Peruvian history as an ongoing process towards independence, starting from early anti-colonial struggles, transiting through an incomplete declaration of political independence, and moving towards the ultimate moment of economic emancipation signaled by the rise of the military (1968). The crafting of national heroism and heroes was central to this reconfiguration of Peruvian history. While significant attention has been paid to the role of Túpac Amaru II in the military regime’s discourse, this article explains how this figure was inserted within a larger platform of significant characters that represented the same nationalizing values allegedly embodied by Velasco’s political project. In delivering this message, the regime relied on both a well-designed propaganda machine and softer devices for the spread of nationalism.