José Bustamante y Rivero
Encyclopedia
José Luis Bustamante y Rivero (January 15, 1894 – January 11, 1989) was a lawyer, writer, politician, diplomat, President of Peru from 1945 to 1948 and President of the International Court of Justice
in The Hague
from 1967 to 1969.
. His parents were Manuel Bustamante y Barreda, a lawyer and district attorney in Arequipa, and Victoria de Rivero y Romero. José married María Jesús Rivera in 1923. He received his early education in Arequipa and obtained his Law Degree from the Universidad Nacional San Agustín de Arequipa in his native city and his Ph.D. from the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cusco
. After a distinguished career as a professor and legal scholar, Bustamante became interested in politics.
. He soon earned the trust of Leguía's successor, Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
, and began his new career in 1934 by serving as a diplomat, representing Peru as Peruvian Minister to Uruguay, Bolivia and various other countries in the Americas.
He ran for President in 1945 as a candidate for the Frente Democrático Nacional
, a moderate, left-of-center party that aligned itself with Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre
's APRA
and the Peruvian Communist Party
. Opposing him was the Legión Patriótica Independiente
candidate, Gen. Eloy G. Ureta. Bustamante comfortably won the relatively honest election.
As president, Bustamante hoped to create a more democratic government by limiting the power of the military and the oligarchy. Conflict soon arose, however, between the president and Haya de la Torre. Without the support of the APRA party Bustamante found his presidency severely limited.
The murder of the ultraconservative Editor Francisco Graña Garland, a prominent member of the Peruvian Elite (and bitter editorial enemy of the APRA Party), sparked a political crisis that was blamed immediately to the APRA's influence on the Government. President Bustamante y Rivero was forced to name a military Cabinet to tide over the crisis.
In October 1948, rebel sailors and officers seized five warships, locked up or shot their commanders, sent landing parties ashore under cover of a ragged bombardment. Shore-based sailors took over the Naval Academy, the Naval Armory, and the Real Felipe Fortress. After loyal troops to the government crushed the revolt, President Bustamante suspended all civil rights.
The insurrection, he declared, had been the work of the APRA Party. Under the President's orders, government troops occupied the APRA headquarters, seized the plant of its newspaper, La Tribuna, and arrested several prominent Apristas. But for the Military Cabinet, those moves were not enough. Postwar economic problems and strife caused by strong labor unions led to a military coup on October 29, 1948, which led Gen. Manuel A. Odría
to become the new President.
. He finally returned to Peru in 1955. In 1960 he was elected a member of the International Court of Justice
in The Hague
and served as its President from 1967 to 1969.
He died in Lima in 1989, aged 94.
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
from 1967 to 1969.
Early years
José Bustamante was born in ArequipaArequipa
Arequipa is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 836,859 it is the second most populous city of the country...
. His parents were Manuel Bustamante y Barreda, a lawyer and district attorney in Arequipa, and Victoria de Rivero y Romero. José married María Jesús Rivera in 1923. He received his early education in Arequipa and obtained his Law Degree from the Universidad Nacional San Agustín de Arequipa in his native city and his Ph.D. from the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...
. After a distinguished career as a professor and legal scholar, Bustamante became interested in politics.
Coup against Leguía
Bustamante reached political maturity as the author of the manifesto which launched the 1930 coup that ousted President Augusto B. LeguíaAugusto B. Leguía
Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo was a Peruvian politician who twice occupied the Presidency of Peru, from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930.-Early life:...
. He soon earned the trust of Leguía's successor, Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was a high-ranking Peruvian army officer and President of Peru from 1931 to 1933. On August 22, 1930, as a lieutenant-colonel, he overturned the eleven-year dictatorship of Augusto B...
, and began his new career in 1934 by serving as a diplomat, representing Peru as Peruvian Minister to Uruguay, Bolivia and various other countries in the Americas.
He ran for President in 1945 as a candidate for the Frente Democrático Nacional
National Democratic Front (Peru)
National Democratic Front was a political party in Peru that was founded in 1945 in Arequipa by Manuel J. Bustamante de la Fuente. Future president Fernando Belaúnde Terry was also present during the party's foundation. The party later formed an alliance with APRA and the Peruvian Communist Party,...
, a moderate, left-of-center party that aligned itself with Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre was a Peruvian political leader who founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance political movement.-Life:Haya de la Torre was born in the northern Peruvian city of Trujillo...
's APRA
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
The Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana is a centre-left Peruvian political party.At the legislative elections held on 9 April 2006, the party won 22.6% of the popular vote and 36 out of 120 seats in the Congress of the Republic...
and the Peruvian Communist Party
Peruvian Communist Party
The Peruvian Communist Party is a communist party in Peru. It was founded in 1928 by José Carlos Mariátegui, under the name Partido Socialista del Perú . In 1930 the name was changed to PCP...
. Opposing him was the Legión Patriótica Independiente
Independent Patriotic Legion
Independent Patriotic Legion , was a political party in Peru, founded in 1944, in order to launch the presidential campaign of Eloy Utera....
candidate, Gen. Eloy G. Ureta. Bustamante comfortably won the relatively honest election.
Presidency
During his first seven days as President, Bustamante restored press freedom and full civil rights and freed all political prisoners. He also purged the Military, cancelled gambling licenses and took control of the expenditures of the national treasury. One of his important international agreements was to establish a 200-mile stretch of Peruvian sea.As president, Bustamante hoped to create a more democratic government by limiting the power of the military and the oligarchy. Conflict soon arose, however, between the president and Haya de la Torre. Without the support of the APRA party Bustamante found his presidency severely limited.
The murder of the ultraconservative Editor Francisco Graña Garland, a prominent member of the Peruvian Elite (and bitter editorial enemy of the APRA Party), sparked a political crisis that was blamed immediately to the APRA's influence on the Government. President Bustamante y Rivero was forced to name a military Cabinet to tide over the crisis.
In October 1948, rebel sailors and officers seized five warships, locked up or shot their commanders, sent landing parties ashore under cover of a ragged bombardment. Shore-based sailors took over the Naval Academy, the Naval Armory, and the Real Felipe Fortress. After loyal troops to the government crushed the revolt, President Bustamante suspended all civil rights.
The insurrection, he declared, had been the work of the APRA Party. Under the President's orders, government troops occupied the APRA headquarters, seized the plant of its newspaper, La Tribuna, and arrested several prominent Apristas. But for the Military Cabinet, those moves were not enough. Postwar economic problems and strife caused by strong labor unions led to a military coup on October 29, 1948, which led Gen. Manuel A. Odría
Manuel A. Odría
Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti was the President of Peru from 1948 to 1956.Manuel Odría was born in 1897 in Tarma, a city in the central Andes just east of Lima. He graduated first in his class from the Chorillos Military Academy in 1915. He joined the army and as a lieutenant-colonel was a war...
to become the new President.
Post-presidency
Bustamante was exiled to ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. He finally returned to Peru in 1955. In 1960 he was elected a member of the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and served as its President from 1967 to 1969.
He died in Lima in 1989, aged 94.
Published works
José Bustamante was the author of several judicial and other related works currently in the National Library of Peru. His published works include the following:- Arequipa (1947)
- Tres años de lucha por la democracia en el Perú (1949)
- Panamericanismo e iberoamericanismo (1951)
- Artesanía textil en el Perú (1952)
- Mensaje al Perú: Perú, estructura social (1960)
- La Corte Internacional de justicia (1964)
- Una visión del Perú (1972)
- Derecho del mar (1972)