Manuel Odría

Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti (26 November 1896 – 18 February 1974) was a military officer who served as the 45th President of Peru. He ousted President José Luis Bustamante y Rivero in the 1948 Peruvian coup d'état and seized power. He prevented other candidates from contesting the 1950 Peruvian general election, which he won with 100% of the vote as the sole candidate.

He ruled as a dictator, repressing the political opposition. He faced several coup attempts. He sought to distance himself from the coup plotters who brought him to power and to govern as a populist. Amid pressure, he was forced to call general elections for 1956, where the presidential elections were won by Manuel Prado Ugarteche.