Marshal Caceres: A Military or a Popular Hero? Reflections on a Peruvian National Hero

The image of the Marshal Andres Avelino Caceres (Ayacucho, 1836-Ancon, 1923), a hero of the War of the Pacific & former president of Peru, has been used in recent years by etnocacerismo, a political movement of rather violent trajectory that links militaristic, indigenist, & nationalist elements. How can one explain the appropriation of this national hero? Was it the state's lack of interest in including Caceres in the "official pantheon of heroes"? What did the etnocaceristas find in the marshal to turn it into a symbol? This essay tries to answer these questions, & to reconstruct the complex & partial official appropriation of this hero. References. Adapted from the source document.