The Return of APRA

"Six months ago we stood with our backs to the wall; now we hold the trump cards in the political game." With these proud words, Underground Leader Ramiro Priale last week hailed the astonishing comeback of APRA, the left-wing party outlawed by Peru's government in 1948.

Meeting outside Lima in their first national convention in twelve years, the 800 Aprista delegates present had good reason to be jubilant. In a radio address to the nation, conservative President Manuel Odria, long an implacable foe of APRA, had openly invited individual Apristas to take part in the political activity leading to next June's presidential elections. Moreover, he had indicated that he would permit the party to convene unmolested. On one week's notice delegates from the four corners of the country gathered. "This shows," said Leader Priale, "that under persecution our party has preserved its basic structure." Then he spelled out in blunt terms what APRA wants from the government in return for throwing its voting power behind an acceptable candidate. It expects full restoration of its status as a political party.

Why did President Odria make his unexpected gesture to APRA? Lima observers reasoned that: 1) he is genuinely anxious to run off a free election; and 2) having failed to form a coalition with Peru's right wing, he is now willing to dicker with the left for the votes he needs to elect a successor who will carry on his cherished economic program.

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