Manuel Arturo Odria Amoretti (26 November 1896-18 February 1974) was President of Peru from 1 November 1948 to 1 June 1950 (succeeding Jose Luis Bustamante y Rivero and preceding Zenon Noriega Aguero) and from 28 July 1950 to 28 July 1956 (succeeding Aguero and preceding Manuel Prado Ugarteche).
Biography[]
Manuel Arturo Odria Amoretti was born in Tarma, Peru in 1896, and he graduated first in his class from the Chorillos Military Academy in 1915 and served in the 1941 war with Ecuador before reaching the rank of Major-General. Under President Jose Luis Bustamante y Rivero, Odria was appointed Minister of Government and Police due to his shared hatred for APRA, and, in 1948, he seized power in a military coup. He gained some popularity among the shanty-towns among Lima, helping them to convert their squatter settlements into permanent city suburbs. In 1950, he briefly resigned in order to usher in a brief civilian government, only to be re-elected President a month later. His populist course made him popular among the poor and lower classes, and, while the country enjoyed a thriving economy, he restricted civil rights and presided over a corrupt regime. In 1956, he called for fresh elections and decided not to run again, leading to Manuel Prado Ugarteche being re-elected President. In 1962, Odria ran for President as the Odriist National Union candidate, and he came in a close third with 28% of the popular vote. However, the military seized power that same year, and Odria's followers allied with APRA in 1963 to oppose Fernando Belaunde Terry's government. He died in 1974, having been unable to regain power doe to declining popularity.