(Party) Discipline and Punishment: Apra in Prison, 1932–45

During the years of the so-called "great persecution," thousands of Peruvian Aprista militants -including the founder and ideologist of the party, Haya de la Torre, and a number of its most conspicuous leaders- suffered extensive periods of imprisonment inflicted by both civilian and military regimes. Inside prisons, Aprista cadres engaged in various forms of organization, discipline, resistance and even sacrifice in the service of their political ideals. Prison -as revealed by memoirs, letters, poems, and other types of documents- was seen as a school for their political and ideological training, and imprisonment as an experience that would help strengthen the morale of Aprista militants. In official party accounts, imprisonment contributed to forge party mystic, solidarity, and discipline among its cadres. A closer look at the experience of political imprisonment, however, reveals fissures, conflicts, and tensions that complicate this image. This paper seeks to understand the complexities of the prison experience for Aprista militants and the impact it had on the future evolution of the party.