Ezequiel Ataucusi: Difference between revisions

| image = Ezequiel Ataucusi.png

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1918|04|10}}

| birth_place = nearHuarhua, [[CotahuasiPampamarca District, La Unión]], [[Department of Arequipa|Arequipa]], [[PerúPeru]]

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2000|06|21|1918|04|10}}

| death_place = [[Miraflores District, Lima|Miraflores]], [[Lima]], PerúPeru

| successor = Jonás Ataucusi

| children =

Ataucusi was born in 1918 in Huarhua, a village of [[Cotahuasi]] near [[Arequipa]] into a poor family.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":0" /> He held many jobs as a shoemaker, railroad worker, soldier and carpenter.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1350089/Ezequiel-Gamonal.html|title=Ezequiel Gamoral|last=|first=|date=24 July 2000|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|accessdateaccess-date=30 January 2020|url-status=live|agency=}}</ref>

The [[Evangelical Association of the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Covenant]] ({{lang|es|Asociación Evangélica de la Misión Israelita del Nuevo Pacto Universal}} - AEMINPU) was created by Ataucusi in 1968<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-candidato-frepap-congreso-peru-asegura-homosexuales-tienen-mal-sangre-20200128015313.html|title=El candidato del FREPAP al Congreso de Perú asegura que los homosexuales "tienen el mal en la sangre"|last=Press|first=Europa|date=2020-01-28|website=[[Europa Press (news agency)|Europa Press]]|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-01-29}}</ref> and the religion was officially recognized in Peru in 1969.<ref name=":0" /> The religion is a mix of Seventh-day Adventism, [[Judaism]], [[Inca]] mysticism and [[Maoism]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbn5wb/sacred-cocaine-inside-the-peruvian-sect-accused-of-growing-coca-in-the-amazon|title=Sacred Cocaine: Inside the Peruvian Sect Accused of Growing Coca in the Amazon|last=Houghton|first=Lali|date=2015-03-28|website=[[Vice News|Vice]]|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-01-31}}</ref> The founding of the church happened when many rural Peruvians faced a decline in socioeconomic standards into the 1970s.<ref name=":0" /> As the [[Internal conflict in Peru|internal conflict in Peru]] intensified, followers flocked to AEMINPU.<ref name=":8" />

Ataucusi preached that he was chosen by godGod 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|last=|first=|date=2016-02-24|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=2020-01-29|url-status=live|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|url-status=live|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|last=|first=|date=|website=FREPAP|urlaccess-statusdate=live2020-01-29|archive-urldate=29 January 2020|archive-dateurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129115129/http://www.frepap.org.pe/historia.html|accessurl-datestatus=2020-01-29dead}}</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|publisher=|year=2014|isbn=9781496937032|locationpages=133–145|pagespublisher=133-145Author House }}</ref>

He was the party's candidate for president of Peru twothree 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"El agro al poder”poder": la sorpresiva entrada de un partido teocrático en el Congreso peruano|date=30 January 2019|accessdateaccess-date=30 January 2020|agencynewspaper=El País}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite news|url=https://www.fr24news.com/2020/01/agro-in-power-the-surprise-entry-of-a-theocratic-party-into-the-peruvian-congress-international.html|title="Agro in power": the surprise entry of a theocratic party into the Peruvian Congress|date=29 January 2019|accessdate=30 January 2020|agency=Fr24 International}}</ref>

He died in [[Miraflores District, Lima|Miraflores]], [[Lima]] due toof kidney failure and his followers held a three-day funeral, waiting for his resurrection beside his body decorated with gold jewelry.<ref name=":6" /> As his followers waited for his resurrection and his body began to decompose, Ataucusi's body was placed in a glass coffin.<ref name=":3" /> After not resurrecting, many followers became disillusioned with him.<ref name=":8" />

Ataucusi's son Jonas was chosen as his successor<ref name=":8" /> and his party eventually grew within the [[Peruvian Congress]] following the [[2020 Peruvian parliamentary election]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />

[[Category:1918 births]]