The Rise of APRA in Peru: Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre and Inter-American Intellectual Connections, 1918-1935

Abstract

This paper explores the rise of Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) by examining Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre's formative years as a student leader. Haya de la Torre's philosophy of anti-imperialism developed out of a Latin American intellectual trend known as neo-arielismo and embodied the aspirations and frustrations of a new generation of young intellectuals and working class people. However, APRA also represented a unique response among Peruvian intellectuals to the nation's defeat in the War of the Pacific. Haya de la Torre's calls for a politically united Latin America rested on a unifying idea of racial ancestry known as Indoamericanismo and increasing evidence of the debilitating force of U.S. imperialism. Unlike his predecessors, Haya traveled extensively throughout the Americas and in Europe to generate intellectual and political connections. Despite the ultimate failure of APRA to achieve its objectives, the founder and head of the movement was warmly welcomed and encouraged by students and intellectuals while traveling. Haya's defeat in the 1930 presidential election sparked protests among his followers based on allegations of fraud. The violent repression that resulted, with tacit support from the U.S. government, exemplifies the confluence of power that APRA faced. His reception among U.S. academics highlights the stark contrast between U.S. foreign policy and academic understandings of Latin America.