Manuel A. Odría Amoretti (1897 – 1974) was President of the Republic between 1948 and 1956 . Son of Arturo Odría Álvarez and Zoila Amoretti, he was born in Tarma (Junín) on November 26, 1897. His school studies were carried out at the San Ramón national school in his native land and, after moving to Lima (1914), the culminated in the Military School of Chorrillos, from where he graduated in 1919, deserving the sword of honor of his class. Promoted to captain (1924) he served as a military professor. He took specialization courses at the Escuela Superior de Guerra (1927-1929) and, appointed sergeant major (1930), assumed the leadership of the Infantry battalion of the Escuela Militar until his immediate promotion (1936). He was appointed chief of staff of the Fourth Division in Cuzco and, with the same position, he went to the Light Division in Piura, at the head of which he participated in the conflict with Ecuador (1941), having an outstanding performance in the battle of Zarumilla. In 1942 he was promoted to colonel and directed the Escuela Superior de Guerra. He traveled to the United States for advanced courses and upon his return he was promoted to brigadier general (1946).
Manuel Odría's positions in the government
During the government of Jóse Luis Bustamante y Rivero (1945-1948) he served as Minister of Government and Police and faced the difficult situation created by the APRA opposition and the danger of a parliamentary strike. Encouraged by the exporting agro-mining sector, opposed to exchange control carried out by Bustamante and enemy of APRA, he led a coup from Arequipa (October 27, 1948), forming a government junta that deported Bustamante. From the beginning, the junta tried to suffocate political life by systematically violating individual guarantees:homes were violated and a good number of political leaders, both Aprista and Communist, were arrested and expelled. An Internal Security Law of the Republic suspended the guarantees to all those who tried to combat the regime. The military junta ruled in this way until 1950, the year in which Odría went down to the plains and called for elections, entrusting the executive power to General Zenón Noriega.
Manuel Odría's government
The prohibition of the contest of political parties and the imprisonment of his only opponent Ernesto Montagne facilitated the "election" of Odría as constitutional president. The application of coercive methods to strengthen his government (1950-1956) was inevitable. With the motto of "deeds and not words" and, thanks to a favorable export situation due to the war in Korea, he undertook a vast plan of public works:the irrigation of the Piura valley and others along the coast to increase agricultural production; the increase in copper production in the Toquepala deposits through the Southern Peru Copper Corporation; the construction of large public buildings such as the Ministries of Education, Finance, Health, Transport and Communications, and the new National Stadium, which meant the rise of civil construction; the construction of the Employee, Military and Naval hospitals, and large school units throughout the country. On the other hand, the Army was modernized with the purchase of new weapons, the Center for Advanced Military Studies (CAEM) was founded, the Military Justice Code and the Mining Code were promulgated, the Employee Social Security and the Ministry of Labor and Indigenous Affairs, laws were enacted that enshrined the right to a Sunday salary and the partial enjoyment for workers of the profits of the companies in which they worked, granted -for the first time in Peru- the right to vote to the woman, among many other actions. However, at the end of his government, the economic crisis reappeared:there was a food shortage, the cost of living increased and the opposition knew how to take advantage of the situation . The regime responded with forceful measures, prisons and persecution, but the situation was already unsustainable. Odría, who wanted to stay in power, had to call elections in 1956, and Manuel Prado Ugarteche won, supported by the votes of Apra.
Foundation of the group Unión Nacional Odriísta
Once out of the government, Odría traveled to the United States to take care of his health and rest, later going to Europe. Upon his return (1961) he founded the political group "Unión Nacional Odriísta" (UNO) and stood for the 1962 general elections to compete with Fernando Belaunde Terry and Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre. The elections were won by the latter, but the Armed Forces did not recognize the elections, arguing vices in the process. Odría presented his candidacy for the presidency again the following year but was again defeated, this time by Fernando Belaunde . During the first Belaunde administration (1963-1968), General Odría's party formed a parliamentary alliance with Apra, which hindered any attempt at structural reform proposed by Belaunde and his Popular Action party. This serious circumstance contributed to annul the effectiveness of the Executive power and provoked the military coup of General Juan Velasco Alvarado (October 3, 1968). Retired from politics, Manuel Odría died in Lima on February 16, 1974.