Who was Francisco Morales Bermudez?

The ex-president Francisco Morales Bermudez Cerruti He passed away at the age of 100. His death was confirmed by his son, Remigio Morales Bermúdez. The former dictator had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Italian justice for the disappearance of citizens as part of the ‘Plan Condor’.

He was Commander General of the Army and in August 1975, he led the ‘Tacnazo’, which was a coup against the mandate of Juan Velasco Alvarado. Later, he assumed the Presidency of the Republic from August 29, 1975 to July 28, 1980. This military dictatorship was called the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces.

LOOK: Francisco Morales Bermúdez, former president sentenced to life imprisonment by Italian justice, died

During this period, he executed the ‘Plan Condor’, a campaign of repression carried out by Latin American dictatorships between the 1970s and 1980s to eliminate leftist opponents and communism. Following the disappearance of Italian-Peruvians, the Italian government began investigations into this practice.

Francisco Morales Bermúdez after 5 years of government gives way to the democratic government of Fernando Belaunde Terry, thus culminating the 12 years in which our country was under the command of the military government. (GEC Historical Archive)

In 2007, he requested the arrest of 146 soldiers from the Juntas of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay. Among them, Morales Bermudez. After a series of judicial processes, the Italian Supreme Court confirmed on February 9 of this year, the life sentence for the former Peruvian dictator.

According to the book ‘Operation Condor: 40 years later’, published by UNESCO’s International Center for the Promotion of Human Rights, this bloody campaign began on November 28, 1975, in Chile, after a security meeting led by by Manuel ‘Mamo’ Contreras, head of the Chilean secret police, known as DINA or National Intelligence Division.

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

In his government, general elections were called for the formation of a Constituent Assembly. The country’s political forces participated in these elections. The elected met on July 28, 1978 and elected Aprista leader Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre as its president. Subsequently, they began to discuss and draft the 1979 Constitution.

According to the new Magna Carta, general elections were called for May 18, 1980, in which the president and representatives of a bicameral Congress were democratically elected. The winner of this electoral contest was Fernando Belaunde Terry.

Morales Bermúdez facilitated the transition to democracy, during the second phase of the so-called Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, by convening a constituent assembly that was installed in July 1978. (Photo: El Comercio Archive)

WILL BE BURIED IN LIMA:

According to sources from Perú21, the remains of Morales Bermúdez will be veiled today in the San Felipe Apóstol church in San Isidro.

Tomorrow he will be transferred to the General Army Headquarters, for funeral honors and to continue with the wake, the body mass present and later he will be transferred to the Jardines de la Paz Cemetery in Lurín.