History of Peru warfare. The Revolutionary Left Movement (Peru), or MIR, launched an insurrection that had been crushed by 1965, but Peru's internal strife would only accelerate until its climax in the 1990s. The military has been prominent in Peruvian history. Coups have repeatedly interrupted civilian constitutional government. The most recent period of military rule (1968–1980) began when General Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew elected President Fernando Belaúnde Terry of the Popular Action Party (AP). As part of what has been called the "first phase" of the military government's nationalist program, Velasco undertook an extensive agrarian reform program and nationalized the fish meal industry,
José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra (March 19, 1893 – March 30, 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. Five times he became president of Ecuador: 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972. But only once (1952–1956) did he complete the full term. In his four other exits he was removed by military force; indeed several times he was installed as president through a military coup. Ecuador was notably unstable – with 17 constitutions after independence in 1830, . Velasco Ibarra was a fiery populist who did not have a formal party organization. Rather it was his populist rhetoric that attracted