Command Decision

For Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, it was an hour of decision. Time & again APRA's husky leader had been outmaneuvered in the bitter struggle for power between Right and Left. This time APRA's enemies seemed ready for a finish fight. Even democratically minded President Jose Luis Bustamante, who was elected with Aprista votes, had joined the opposition (TIME, May 17). He was governing without a Congress.

One day last week in a Manhattan hotel suite, Haya made his decision. Said he, after 73 days in the U.S.: "I must return and lead my people. This is the most fateful and dangerous hour of my life." Two days later, Haya landed in Lima and set off one of the biggest Aprista demonstrations in the party's history.

The 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 ?

The 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.

The 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.

Chin jutting, arms flaying, the Jefe Maximo accused his enemies of planning dictatorship. "Their denials won't fool anybody," he shouted. "There is dictatorship when one rules by decree, infringes the constitution, betrays Parliament, proves disloyal to the people's will. The time to speak out is at hand. I won't be silenced by threats. They will have to do to me what was done to Colombia's Gaitan . . . We want peace, not war, but let no one forget we are the strongest."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.