Peru mourns 'model democrat'

Belaunde was "an exemplary democrat"

Peru has declared three days of national mourning after the death of former President Fernando Belaunde Terry.

I've finished my work in life

Fernando Belaunde Terry

Belaunde died at the age of 89, after suffering a brain hemorrhage 10 days ago.

He was widely seen in Peru as a champion of democracy who helped lead the return to civilian rule in the 1980s.

Peru's current President Alejandro Toledo spoke of his "profound sorrow at the death of an exemplary democrat and a paradigm of democracy in Peru and in Latin America".

"The only thing that remains now is the light of his example," he said.

Belaunde had also been ill with cancer, and had been hit hard by the death of his wife Violeta Correa last June.

"I already want to go," he said last year. "I've finished my work in life."

His funeral will be held on Thursday.

Twice president

Belaunde was born in the southern city of Arequipa in 1912. He studied mechanics at a local university, and later gained a degree in artichtecture from the University of Texas.

Belaunde taught at US universities during his exile

In the 1950s, he founded the centrist Popular Action Party, and ran for the presidency in 1956.

In 1959, he was imprisoned after holding an illegal rally in Arequipa. But four years later, he was successful in presidential elections and took power.

For five years, he fought political battles with Congress over land reform, until he was toppled in 1968 in a military coup.

He sought asylum in the United States, and turned to university teaching before returning to Peru in 1976.

In 1980, after democracy was reestablished, Balaunde was again elected president with a huge majority, serving until 1985.

When Belaunde made way for his successor, Alan Garcia, it was the first occasion in his lifetime that power had passed from one democratically elected president to another.

He developed links to Peru's eastern jungles by promoting the construction of the Marginal Highway, intended to open up remote areas and provide transport routes to neighbouring countries.