Following a coup in 1968, Juan Velasco Alvarado assumed the position of President for the new Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas (Revolutionary Government of Armed Forces). This government quickly implemented a series of leftist reforms to address the historical injustices of the Peruvian state. Most notably, Velasco was concerned with the treatment of Indigenous peasant and campesino (rural) populations of Peru.
During this time, Velasco passed a variety of reforms focused on economic redistribution, including refinancing the national debt, agrarian reform, and a major investment into education, health, and housing. These reforms also included the nationalization of news media (1974) and the official recognition of Quechua language as an equally valid language to Spanish in education, law, and government.
These conditions are what made the creation of Cronicawan, a state-supported Quechua-language newspaper, possible.
Cronicawan was published briefly for 16 or 17 issues in 1975.
Cronicawan ran for 16 or 17 issues (yupana) from June (Inti Raymi Killa) to September (Chajra Yapuy killa) in 1975. The first 11 issues were produced at a broadsheet size and produced primarily in Quechua (Runasimi). Issues 2-11 included a double-sided insert page that contained translations of the articles into Spanish. Each of the first 11 issues sold for 4 soles, which was subsidized by the Velasco government as part of Ley No. 21156. Starting with issue 12, the newspaper was produced at a smaller A4 (standard magazine) size, and featured articles that were written in parallel, first in Quechua and after translated into Spanish. These later editions sold for 4.50 soles. Production ended shortly after the military coup of Francisco Morales BermĂșdez on August 29, 1975, which deposed Velasco and later walked back many of the reforms regarding Quechua language and Indigenous engagement that were established during this time.
The collection displayed here contains 15 issues of the extant 16 or 17 issues. See the page About the Digitization Project for more details.
Cronicawanâs many editors and contributors included Guillermo Thorndike, Angel Avendaño, Luis Gonzales Posada, William Hurtado de Mendoza, and Hernando Aguirre Gamio. Thorndike, a Lima-based journalist, was deeply involved in the journalistic scene before the expropriation of newspapers by Velasco. He founded the newspaper La RepĂșblica, which was named specifically in Decreto Ley No. 20681, and was later the directorate of the newspapers La Tercera and La CrĂłnica. Avendaño and Hurtado de Mendoza were both from Cusco and bilingual Quechua/Spanish speakers. The two published poetry in both languages and wrote a majority of the reflection pieces throughout the newspapers.
Cronicawan emerged as a product of the ideological shifts emphasized in the Velasco government, serving not only as a medium for state messaging but also as a platform where Quechua speakers could engage with national and international affairs through their own linguistic and cultural lens.
Cronicawan included sections for national news, international news, reader submissions, art and poetry, and resources for learning Quechua. The tagline, Revolusionpa Rimaynin, can be translated as âVoice of the Revolutionâ or âThe Revolution Speaksâ. See the Index for full documentation of the issues displayed on this site and their layouts.