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{{short description|Peruvian politician and prophet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{family name hatnote|Ataucusi|Gamonal|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
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'''Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal''' (10 April 1918 – 21 June 2000), also known as '''Brother Ezequiel''',<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Masson|first=Peter|date=1991|title=Consideraciones Acerca De Un Nuevo Movimiento Religioso: Los Israelitas Del Nuevo Pacto Universal|journal=Ibero-Amerikanisches Archiv|volume=17|issue=4|pages=465–496}}</ref> was a [[Peru]]vian politician and self-proclaimed [[prophet]] of the religious movement he founded, the [[Evangelical Association of the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Covenant]] (AEMINPU) and their [[theocratic]] party known as [[Agricultural People's Front of Peru]] (FREPAP).
== Early life ==
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Ataucusi preached that he was chosen by God to create a new Israel in the [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon Rainforest]] as a punishment of the [[Israeli people]] for their losing faith.<ref name=":0" /> Followers of the movement regarded Ataucusi as a prophet and "the reincarnation of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]]".<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium.MAGAZINE-tropical-promised-land-new-israelites-of-the-amazon-1.5409032|title=Tropical Promised Land: New Israelites of the Amazon|date=2016-02-24|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=2020-01-29|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He gradually reduced the importance of [[Jesus]] in his movement.<ref name=":9" /> ''[[The Guardian]]'' described him as "a self-styled spiritual leader who called himself the 'Christ of the west'".<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/peru-why-a-fundamentalist-sect-became-an-unexpected-winner-in-elections|title=Peru: why a fundamentalist sect became an unexpected winner in elections|last=Collyns|first=Dan|date=2020-01-30|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2020-01-31|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Ataucusi would often state that the apocalypse was approaching and would preach that he delayed such events.<ref name=":0" /> His followers were required to wear robes modeled from the [[Old Testament]], though Ataucusi never wore them saying that he would only do so when the apocalypse occurred.<ref name=":0" /> Throughout this time, he had several wives and was known to be very sexually active, according to ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.<ref name=":0" />
His party, the Agricultural People's Front of Peru (FREPAP), was officially founded by Ataucusi on 30 September 1989.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.frepap.org.pe/historia.html|title=Historia|website=FREPAP|access-date=2020-01-29|archive-date=29 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129115129/http://www.frepap.org.pe/historia.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 1990s, his number of followers ranged from 60,000 to 200,000.<ref name=":0" /> In 1995, investigations were opened against Ataucusi surrounding allegations of killing disagreeing followers and supposed links to [[Shining Path]], though none of the accusations were ever confirmed.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Jump Off the Face of the Earth: Adventures of an American Nurse in Amazonas|last=Balser|first=Judy|year=2014|isbn=9781496937032|pages=133–145|publisher=Author House }}</ref>
He was the party's candidate for president of Peru three times, for the [[1990 Peruvian general election|1990 election]], [[1995 Peruvian general election|1995 election]] and [[2000 Peruvian general election|2000 election]], though he was never elected for any political office.<ref name=":5">{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2020/01/28/actualidad/1580173631_292621.html|title="El agro al poder": la sorpresiva entrada de un partido teocrático en el Congreso peruano|date=30 January 2019|access-date=30 January 2020|newspaper=El País}}</ref>
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