WesWorld

El Comercio (Lima), 1 January 1946

The formation of a new football club in the district of Surco was announced today. The Club Juventud le Rural is the first new club to be formed with the support of the Ministerio de Educaccion, Cultura y Deporte and is the leading edge of the Ministry’s program of renovating Peruvian participation in football on a regional scale.

The Peruvian Times (Lima), 22 February 1946

The first students are expected to enter recently founded Markham College next month. Intended to meet the needs of the expatriate community Markham will serve as a grammar school for students between the ages of six and eighteen.

Diario Oficial El Peruano (Lima), 15 March 1946

Jenaro Herrera, Loreto, 29 April 1946

Teniente Manuel Gordon Magne sat at his battered typewriter, taking his notes and attempting to put them into some semblance of order. His command, Unidad Militar de Asentamiento Rural No.1, had arrived in the region early last November, and had deployed downriver from Requena into the virgin forests. Named for the first lawyer in Loreto, the village of Jenaro Herrera was Magne’s own creation, and he was justifiably proud of it. At the moment it was little more than a few tin-roofed shacks laid out on the bluffs above the River Ucayali, but it was growing – Magne’s detachment had seen to that.

Subteniente Carlos Alberto Seguin, his medical officer, had by far the busiest schedule – the dispensary attracted patients from miles around, and his input on matters of sanitation and water supply were invaluable. As busy as the medical staff might be the contribution of Sargento primero Ricardo Salazar Bondy, and his team of construction workers was vital – from laying out the rudiments of streets and roads, to overseeing construction of public buildings, to creating a landing stage at the river’s edge – these tasks took nearly half the detachment’s strength and provided employment to a number of residents.

Técnico de primera Oscar la Torre Carrasco, a school-teacher originally from Cajamarca, had begun the long task of providing instruction to the children of the district – a task he shared with Father Alvaro Diaz Mego, a Franciscan who had labored long among the indigenous people yet was respected by the immigrant population, whose numbers increased month-by-month.

All this was progress that Magne could include in his report; so was the increase in commerce, for two traders had come upriver from Iquitos to market manufactured goods and barter for rubber, fish, or timber. But far more was needed – Magne identified many requirements – a motor pirogue to improve communications, more construction materials, books, medical supplies, and, of course, money with which to hire local labor.

Time would tell if any of his requests would be fulfilled.

Lima, The American Embassy, 9 May 1946

William Pawley carefully read the digest prepared for him by his staff on the matter of the new Peruvian constitution promulgated the previous day. Like its predecessors, it guaranteed the basic freedoms of the Peruvian people, specified the role of the organs of the state, assured an independent judiciary, and, most importantly, laid out the framework for the elections that were to be held in the coming November.

He liked the fact that the future president of Peru would be both head of state and head of government; like most Americans he distrusted the European concept of a figurehead President with read power in the hands of someone who merely commanded a parliamentary majority, a sink of constantly-shifting sand. In his own mind Pawley expected that – one way or another – the position of President would be filled by Odría; and based on what Pawley had seen in the last year, that would not be the worst possible option. The new constitution called for new legislative body, the Congreso de la República – the Congress of the Republic – a unicameral body with 130 members, to be elected for four-year periods in office on a proportional representation basis – this feature he not entirely happy with, as it assured that the political parties would proliferate, or so he thought.

Still, he could advise the Secretary of State that the military leadership was keeping its promise to hold elections, and that the form of government adopted should guarantee stability and reasonable freedom. The ultimate question was one of form versus substance; and that was an open question.

The Peruvian Times (Lima), 17 June 1946

Lieutenant General Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti, chief of staff of the Army and leader of the National Military Council has announced his retirement from the military, in order that he might legally stand for election as president of the republic. In his announcement, Odría stated that he would stand as the candidate of the Partido Restaurador del Peru, and would entrust his future to the will of the people. Minister of Defense Zenon Noriega Aquero will take Odría’s place at the head of the National Military Council pending the forthcoming elections, scheduled for 5 November.

El Comercio (Lima), 25 July 1946

The lines of electoral battle have been drawn in anticipation of the National Election in November. Besides a number of small, regional parties, four major parties are contesting the presidency and the seats in the new Congreso de la República.

The Partido Restaurador del Perú is the party of former general Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti, and is dedicated to the furtherance of the current program of national renovation. The Partido Democrático Nacional, led by José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, is the ideological heir of the former Partido Civil, and opposes military intervention in politics. Seen by many as splinter groups the Partido Laborista del Perú, under the leadership of José Manuel Rodríguez, and the Partido Demócrata Socialista of Luis Alonzo Suárez are expected to siphon votes from the Partido Democrático Nacional, despite pleas from Bustamante to join in a united front.

Campaigning across the nation has been marked by restraint; despite control of the levers of government by the supporters of Odría campaign rallies for Bustamente, and the other candidates, have proceeded without incident. Nevertheless, those of the Partido Restaurador del Perú have drawn large crowds, particularly in the Piura Region, the Tacna Region and the Callao Region. Well informed observers expect that Odría and the Partido Restaurador del Perú will win an electoral victory.

Diario Oficial El Peruano (Lima), 19 August 1946

The Oficina de Minas y Desarollo Minero has registered the formation of the Empresa Nacional Minera Corona to exploit mineral deposits at Yanachanca and El Porvenir, both in Cerro de Pasco Department. The new mines are expected to yield considerable quantities of lead and silver, and are expected to come on stream late next year. The start-up capital of thirty million soles is to be provided by the Direccion General de Inversion Publica.

El Comercio (Lima), 14 August 1946

Minister of Transport and Communications Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre yesterday formally opened the first major section of the northern portion of Ruta Nacional 001, the Longitudinal de la costa, which now links the capital with the city of Chimbote as well as the major coastal towns between them. Construction proceeds on both the northern and southern sections; on the latter, construction crews have nearly completed the highway to Chincha, and work on the bridges to cross the Rio Matagente has already commenced.

Jenaro Herrera, Loreto, 5 September 1946

Teniente Manuel Gordon Magne had reason to celebrate. It had taken some months but the supplies he had requested to support the development of the settlement of Jenaro Herrera had begun to arrive. Several boatloads of construction materials had been ferried up the river from Iquitos, allowing the completion of a proper landing stage at the river’s bank, and corrugated iron now roofed the clinic, the school, and the unit’s headquarters building which doubled as the municipal seat of government. A true motor launch – not a mere motor pirogue – with its crew had been assigned to his unit. This was a boon of inestimable value – it now made daily runs carrying supplies to work details throughout the area. Most importantly, a paymaster had arrived from Iquitos, bearing not only the arrears of the unit but a supply of ready cash with which local supplies could be obtained. Trade now flourished, and commercial craft made the journey to and from Iquitos several times a week, and new settlers had begun to trickle in.

The means were now available for Magne to contemplate some of the plans he had for the district. He wished to lay down streets on a proper plan, so that the settlement he had founded would look the part of a true town. Father Alvaro frequently pestered him regarding the construction of a church – and that was something Magne could not ignore forever. And the resources of the district would have to be developed if Jenaro Herrera were to become self-supporting. So he began to compile a list of equipment and materiel to request – in the hope that at least some of it might arrive.

El Popular (Lima), 12 October 1946

Diario Oficial El Peruano (Lima), 8 November 1946

With votes counted in all electoral districts the Comisión Electoral has declared the Partido Restaurador del Perú and its presidential candidate, Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti, to be the victor. Of the 547,572 votes cast, the Partido Restaurador del Perú received 366,708, or nearly 67%. The remainder were split between the Partido Democrático Nacional with 135,648 votes, the Partido Laborista del Perú with 27,130 votes, and the Partido Demócrata Socialista with 18,086 votes. The results give the Partido Restaurador del Perú a comfortable majority in the new Congreso de la República, garnering 87 of the 130 seats. The remaining 43 are split between the other parties, with the Partido Democrático Nacional having the largest share, with 33.

José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, leader of the Partido Democrático Nacional and putative minority leader of the Congreso, acknowledged in his concession speech that the Peruvian people had been given the opportunity to express their will and had done so, and as loyal Peruvians he and his party would accept the election results. However, he promised that he and his fellow representatives in the Congreso would hold President-elect Odría to the many promises made during the election campaign and would work with the President-elect’s administration for the good of the people of Peru.

Lima, The American Embassy, 11 November 1946

Ambassador Pawley re-read the draft of his latest dispatch to Washington; insofar as unbiased observers were concerned, the election of Odría as Peru’s new president was a model of transparency. Of course, the power of landowners steered many rural voters to cast their ballots in favor of one candidate or another, but there were few documented cases of outright intimidation or fraud; voting results from the furthest reaches of Loreto or Puno were thin – but were diverse enough to refute any claim of stuffing the ballot box.

For the State Department, this made it clear that Odría would be the man to reckon with and he would have the support of his nation in any possible showdown over the expropriation of American mining concerns. Foggy Bottom had not taken a firm line despite the urging of Wall Street; now the Secretary would have to make clear to the bankers that their short-sightedness had cost them. The Peruvians had access to European capital markets as well as their own resources – and were employing those resources intelligently and not diverting them to line the pockets of professional politicians of the old school.

One glimmer of good news was the report that Orlando Baylon, the former prime minister, would be returning from a long convalescence in Switzerland. Lung cancer had nearly taken the man’s life, and he was still not out of the woods; but Bustamante, who had broken the news two days ago, suggested that the old war horse was determined to end his days on his native soil, however-long God might grant him.

That was a sentiment Pawley could understand.

The Peruvian Times (Lima), 30 November 1946

Nordmarkian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and five associates have arrived in Callao to begin work on constructing a large balsa raft to test Mister Heyerdahl’s theory that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. The raft – which he plans to name Kon Tiki – will be constructed by traditional Incan methods using materials available in the pre-Columbian period. He proposes to sail it westward to Polynesia, early next year, to prove his theory.


Diario Oficial El Peruano (Lima), 12 December 1946

Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti was sworn in today as President of the Republic. In a speech to the nation, carried live on broadcast radio, President Odría promised to continue efforts to better the life of the ordinary citizen, to provide, as far as resources permit, better access to education, to medical care, to decent housing. He vowed to continue the program of internal improvements already under way – the construction of highways linking the interior with the coastal zone and expansion of railroads to knit together the national railway net. He spoke of the promise of resource development in Amazonas and Loreto as well as increased exploitation of the nation’s mineral resources under Peruvian, not foreign, control. And he spoke of the need to reduce tensions throughout the region, including his desire to meet with the leaders of Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia to put to rest the distrust that has too often boiled over into open conflict. His speech was met with wild enthusiasm and loud and extended applause.

It would probably be a lot faster if Mister Heyerdahl were to borrow the Susanoo from the Osaka Reenactment Group than to build his raft from scratch. Can easily be delivered in... *looks at Google Earth* ... probably 30-36 hours by stuffing it into a G10N1-L. Canned food, drinking water and first aid kits included. A very reliable craft even though the judges unjustly barred the craft from taking part in the 1940 Tall Ship race.

(It was actually something I wanted to throw at the Nordmark player if we had an active one...)

But Mister Heyerdahl's theory holds that people could have sailed from South America to settle Polynesia... hence his plan to sail from South America, using a raft of traditional Incan design, constructed in the ancient Inca lands, by South Americans using South American materials and traditional Incan techniques. Buying a pre-fab Japanese vessel would defeat the entire purpose of the experiment, the vessel's technical merits notwithstanding.

South American materials and traditional Incan techniques? Dang! The vessel was build using Polynesian materials and traditional Polynesian techniques.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

South American materials and traditional Incan techniques? Dang! The vessel was build using Polynesian materials and traditional Polynesian techniques. :)

I believe that you are referring to Tahiti-Nui, a Polynesian raft constructed in Tahiti by the French seafarer, Éric de Bisschop, who in 1956 attempted to sail from Tahiti to South America.

Anyways, everyone knows that any dude with the first name of "Thor" needs to hammer out his own ship using trophies taken from his defeated enemies. It's part of his contract.

;)

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Anyways, everyone knows that any dude with the first name of "Thor" needs to hammer out his own ship using trophies taken from his defeated enemies. It's part of his contract.

;)

:thumbsup: