EncyclopediaBelaúnde Terry, Fernando
Belaúnde Terry, Fernando (fārnän'dō bāläOOn'dā tā'rē) [key], 1912–2002, president of Peru (1963–68, 1980–85). A successful architect, he served in the chamber of deputies (1945–48), formed the Popular Action party in 1956, and ran unsuccessfully for president the same year. In the 1962 elections, he ran a close second behind Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre; the elections were annulled and rescheduled for 1963, at which time Belaúnde won. Despite an opposition congress, he effected social, educational, and land reforms; opened up the rich interior to settlement by constructing a vast highway system across the Andes; established a self-help program for the country's indigenous inhabitants; and encouraged industrial development. However, an inflationary spiral set in, and Belaúnde antagonized nationalistic army leaders by failing to expropriate U.S.-controlled oil fields and operations. Deposed by an army coup in 1968, he fled to the United States, where he subsequently taught architecture at Harvard and Columbia. Restored to the presidency in 1980, he attempted to combat inflation by denationalizing industries and encouraging foreign investment in the petroleum industry.
See his autobiography, Peru's Own Conquest (1959, tr. 1965).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
