Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (4 October 1921 – 14 July 2022) was a Peruvian general and politician. Bermudez was President of Peru from August 1975 through July 1980. He ran for president in 1985, however he only got less than 1% of the vote.
At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former Peruvian president.
Early life
Born in Lima in 1921, he is the son of Army Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez and grandson of ex-President Remigio Morales Bermúdez. He received most of his education at Lima's Colegio Inmaculada. In 1939, he was accepted to the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos (Chorrillos Military School). After his graduation, he was an important member of the Centro de Altos Estudios Militares (CAEM).
Presidency
Morales Bermúdez led a military coup against General Juan Velasco Alvarado and took over as President of Peru on 29 August 1975, leading the country through one of its worst economic problems. He moved away from the socialist-leaning policies that the country had.
His regime took place in Operation Condor, the Peruvian services working with the Intelligence Battalion 601 in the kidnapping of Argentines in Lima in 1980. Around the end of Morales Bermúdez's tenure, a housing crisis happened.
Criminal charges
Morales Bermúdez was prosecuted by an Italian judge for the forced disappearance of 25 Italian citizens during Operation Condor, a campaign run by the United States government and his dictatorship. On 17 January 2017, the Corte d'Assise in Rome found Morales Bermúdez guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
2021 coup comment
In June 2021, after left wing Pedro Castillo was elected president, Morales Bermúdez said he wanted the country's armed forces to do a coup d'état and removed Castillo from power. He believed that the election was stolen from right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and that the results were not legitimate.
Death
Morales-Bermúdez died on 14 July 2022 in Lima at the age of 100.