Juan Velasco Alvarado - Coup D'Etat Against President Fernando Belaunde

Coup D'Etat Against President Fernando Belaunde

During the Belaúnde administration, 1963 - 1968 political disputes became a norm as he held no majority in Congress. Serious arguments between President Belaúnde and Congress, dominated by the APRA-UNO coalition, and even between the President and his own Acción Popular (Popular Action) party were common.

A dispute with the International Petroleum Company over licenses to the La Brea y Pariñas oil fields in northern Peru sparked a national scandal when a key page of a contract (the 11th) was found missing. This proved the catalyst that allowed Armed Forces to seize absolute power and close down Congress, almost all of whose members were briefly incarcerated. General Velasco seized power on October 3, 1968 in a bloodless military coup, deposing the democratically-elected administration of Fernando Belaúnde, under which he served as Commander of the Armed Forces. President Belaúnde was sent into exile. Initial reaction against the coup evaporated after five days when October 8 the oil fields in dispute were taken over by the Army.