Word: haya
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Under the President's orders, government troops in Lima occupied APRA headquarters, seized the plant of its newspaper, La Tribuna, arrested several prominent Apristas (including the party's second in command, Senator Manuel Seoane). Burly Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, APRA's leader, had disappeared, perhaps into the political underground where he had already spent 16 years of his life. One did not need to be as politically shrewd as Haya to know that if Bustamante had been looking for a chance to outlaw APRA, this week's revolt presented a tailor-made opportunity...
...Army's Role? Few people doubted that Haya de la Torre could say whether there would be war or an uneasy peace in Peru. Did he still hope to make peace with Bustamante? A deal between them would bring back elections, give Peru a Congress, return power to APRA municipal functionaires kicked out by the government. Or had Haya lost his faith in the "democratic processes" through which he has tried to take power over the past 20 years...
...answer might lie with the Peruvian army. The government claims that the army is loyal; Haya claims that most of the lower ranks, and even a few generals, would side with APRA in a showdown...
...What Haya and a lot of his followers feared was assassination. Remembering what happened to Gaitan in Bogota, Haya had ordered the No. 2 Aprista, handsome Manuel Seoane, to stay in Chile for a while, to be ready to take over if something should happen to the Jefe Maximo (supreme chieftain). Most people in Peru agreed that, should Haya be assassinated, APRA's answer would probably be revolution...
...People's Will? On the night of his return, Haya stood on a platform in front of the Casa del Pueblo (House of the People), party headquarters. His left arm was outstretched in the Aprista salute, as thousands (APRA's estimate: 200,000; opposition estimate: 15,000) passed in review. While fireworks lighted the sky, the people chanted "Elections, yes! Tyranny, no!" (The day before, Bustamante had postponed congressional by-elections for a third time.) Then they jammed the Avenida Alfonso Ugarte to hear their leader...