Agricultural People's Front of Peru

Agricultural People's Front of Peru
Frente Popular Agrícola del Perú
AbbreviationFREPAP
LeaderJonás Ataucusi
FounderEzequiel Ataucusi Gamonal
Founded30 September 1989
HeadquartersSantiago de Surco, Lima
Membership (2020)42,083
IdeologyAgrarianism
Christian fundamentalism
Economic socialism[1][2]
Social conservatism
Theocracy
Political positionSyncretic
(Economic: Left-wing to far-left
Social: Right-wing to far-right)[citation needed]
ReligionNondenominational evangelicalism
(indirectly connected to the Evangelical Association of the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Covenant)
Congress
0 / 130
Governorships
0 / 25
Regional Councillors
0 / 274
Province Mayorships
0 / 196
District Mayorships
0 / 1,874
Website
www.frepap.org.pe

The Agricultural People's Front of Peru (Spanish: Frente Popular Agrícola del Perú; FREPAP) is an agrarian political party in Peru,[3] founded in 1989 by Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal. The party had 42,083 members in 2020.[4]

History

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Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal created the Evangelical Association of the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Covenant (Asociación Evangélica de la Misión Israelita del Nuevo Pacto Universal or AEMINPU) in 1968,[5] with The Guardian stating, "The messianic sect behind the party was founded in 1968 by Ezequiel Ataucusi, a self-styled spiritual leader who called himself the 'Christ of the west'".[6] Followers of the movement regard Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal as a prophet and "the reincarnation of the Holy Spirit".[3][5] The Agricultural People's Front of Peru party was officially founded by Ataucusi on 30 September 1989.[7]

In 1995, the party received one seat in the Congress of the Republic of Peru, which was held by Javier Noriega Febres.[5] Noriega was later accused of being the head of a hitmen group by the government of Alberto Fujimori.[5]

The party was elected into two seats during the 2000 general election.[5] The two seats, which were for Luis Cáceres Velásquez and his son Roger Cáceres Pérez, characters who joined the ranks of Fujimorism (Peru 2000) after receiving money from Presidential Advisor and Intelligence Chief Vladimiro Montesinos.[8][9] Ataucusi died in 2000 and was placed in a glass coffin, with followers expecting his resurrection.[6] Since the death of Ataucusi, the party experienced internal conflict.[4] In the 2000s, the party won minor district and regional elections.[4] The party lost its legal registration in 2010 and regained it in 2015.[4]

In the 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election, the party received multiple seats in the Congress for the first time in nearly two decades.[4]

Ideology

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FREPAP calls for a strict adherence to the Ten Commandments and the decentralization of populated cities by forming agrarian communities.[7] The party and its main religious organization AEMINPU have been described as having syncretic[10] and socialist[1][2] traits in economic matters, while being heavily conservative on social matters.

They list their ideology as the following:[11]

  • Theocratic – The recognition of divine law to confront corruption and to promote noble politicians
  • Nationalist – Defending of Peru's identity, culture and natural resources
  • Tahuantinsuyonism – Promoting the organization and moral ethics of the Inca Empire
  • Revolution – Moving those experiencing misery within Peru towards a path of liberty and self-reliance
  • Agrarianism – The promotion of agriculture as a way to improve the socioeconomic standards of Peru in every dimension
  • Integration – Unifying all Peruvians to benefit the nation

Policy

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The party calls for the elimination of extreme poverty through the promotion of agricultural industry and decentralization, which they believe will improve socioeconomic standards.[12] For macroeconomic policies, FREPAP believes tourism should be secondary to agriculture and that science and technology should be promoted to develop human capital in order to replace Peru's commodity-driven economy, strengthening the competitiveness of the nation.[12] Regarding the environment, FREPAP calls for the use of renewable energy and the protection of Peru's biodiversity.[12] FREPAP believes that the Peruvian government needs to focus on transparency, accountability and preventing corruption,[12] and has advocated in favor of repealing parliamentary immunity.

Electoral history

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Presidential elections

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Year Candidate Party Votes Percentage Outcome
1990 Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal Agricultural People's Front of Peru 73 974
1.11
 7th
1995 57 556
0.77
 7th
2000 80 106
0.72
 7th

Elections to the Congress of the Republic

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Election Votes % Number of seats Increase/Decrease Position
1990 62 955 1.3%
0 / 180
 Steady Extra-parliamentary
1995 46 102 1.1%
1 / 120
 Increase 1 Minority
2000 216 953 2.2%
2 / 120
 Increase 1 Minority
2001 156 264 1.7%
0 / 120
 Decrease 2 Extra-parliamentary
2006 85 019 0.8%
0 / 120
 Steady Extra-parliamentary
2020 1 240 084 8.4%
15 / 130
 Increase 15 Minority
2021 588,999 4.6%
0 / 130
 Decrease 15 Extra-parliamentary

Senate elections

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Election Votes % Number of seats Increase/Decrease Position
1990 63 879 1.2%
0 / 60
 Steady Extra-parliamentary

Reception

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FREPAP's parent organization has been recognized as a cult by some media commentators and scholars.[13][14][15][16][17] According to Francisco Toro of the Group of Fifty, FREPAP is "a party based on a messianic cult".[14]

According to Peruvian anthropologist Carlos Ráez Suárez, FREPAP saw success in the 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election due to its logistics, its policy proposals for rural supporters and as a protest vote for urban voters.[4] Anthropology professor of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, María Eugenia Ulfe, stated that the elections "punished traditional parties with strong links to corruption and little regional presence" and some Peruvians skeptical about corrupt politicians "think a person with a religious vocation is not going to rob you or be corrupt".[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Reygadas, Luis; Gootenberg, Paul (2010). Indelible Inequalities in Latin America: Insights from History, Politics, and Culture. Duke University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780822392903. The Israelita organization also has a political party, Frente Popular Agrícola Fia del Perú, FREPAP, with a pro-agrarian, quasi-socialist ideology.
  2. ^ a b "Frepap: the force that stopped the Shining Path in years of the internal war". El Popular. 27 January 2020. Ezekiel is an eclectic figure: he is a social, agrarian and religious leader with a vision of socialist and indigenist dyes
  3. ^ a b "Tropical Promised Land: New Israelites of the Amazon". Haaretz. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Frepap | ¿Qué hizo el partido para captar al electorado y volver al Congreso luego de 20 años? [ANÁLISIS]". RPP (in Spanish). 27 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  5. ^ a b c d e Europa Press (2020-01-28). "El candidato del FREPAP al Congreso de Perú asegura que los homosexuales "tienen el mal en la sangre"". Europa Press. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  6. ^ a b c Collyns, Dan (2020-01-30). "Peru: why a fundamentalist sect became an unexpected winner in elections". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  7. ^ a b "Historia". FREPAP. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  8. ^ PERU21, NOTICIAS (2020-01-27). "¡El regreso del 'pescadito'! Frepap retorna al Congreso casi 20 años después | POLITICA". Peru21 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ CORREO, NOTICIAS (2020-01-27). "Transfugismo, denuncias y escándalos: la última vez que Frepap consiguió escaños en el Congreso | Frepap | Frepap: su pasado en el Congreso | Frepap: participación política | POLITICA". Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  10. ^ Houghton, Lali (2015-03-28). "Sacred Cocaine: Inside the Peruvian Sect Accused of Growing Coca in the Amazon". Vice. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  11. ^ "Ideario". FREPAP. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  12. ^ a b c d "Objetivos". FREPAP. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  13. ^ Masson, Peter (1991). "Consideraciones Acerca De Un Nuevo Movimiento Religioso: Los Israelitas Del Nuevo Pacto Universal". Ibero-Amerikanisches Archiv. 17 (4): 465–496.
  14. ^ a b Toro, Francisco (27 January 2020). "Lessons from Peru's revolt against all political parties". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ "Frepap en el Congreso: el resurgir parlamentario del partido israelita". El Comercio (in Spanish). 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  16. ^ "Alianza para el Progreso y Frente Amplio lideran votación en Apurímac". Correo (in Spanish). 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  17. ^ "FREPAP y UPP son la gran sorpresa". RADIO KARIBEÑA - SI SUENA - Radio Karibena, La Karibeña, Si Suena, Papillon (in European Spanish). 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
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