César Acuña

Cesar Acuña Peralta (born 11 August 1952) is a Peruvian politician and entrepreneur in the field of education. A controversial figure in Peruvian politics, he is the founder and leader of the Alliance for Progress party, which has achieved recognition for being the first party of provincial origin to gain electoral popularity at national level since its foundation in 2001.

Born into poverty to a family of twelve brothers in Cajamarca in 1952, Acuña pursued his higher studies at the National University of Trujillo, where he graduated as a chemical engineer. Simultaneously, he started in the education business by founding a prep-college academy, which would ultimately evolve into César Vallejo University, founded in 1991. In the years to come, he pursued graduate studies in education at the University of Lima, the University of Los Andes, and the Complutense University of Madrid; at the same time, he founded two more colleges, founding a multi-million dollar private college consortium with campuses throughout Peru, which he currently owns.

Acuña gained political recognition when in October 2006 was elected Mayor of Trujillo, ending a forty-four year uninterrupted tenure of the Peruvian Aprista Party in the northern city. He was successfully reelected in 2010. Four years later, he was elected Governor of La Libertad, this time defeating the same party at regional level. Ten months after being sworn in, he resigned as governor and started a full-scale presidential campaign for the 2016 general election. Considered a potential run-off nominee against frontrunner Keiko Fujimori, he was eventually disqualified by the electoral authorities after alleged vote-buying in a campaign trail. Throughout the campaign, he faced accusations regarding plagiarism in two of his graduate thesis', and of illegally self-appropriating a published work on education policy under his name, which authorship belonged to an associated educator.

Since his failed 2016 presidential bid, Acuña was considered a potential candidate for the 2021 general election. Although he did not expresse interest on matter between 2016 and 2020, he formally announced his run in the election in late October 2020. He ultimately placed seventh with 6% of the popular vote in a heavily atomized election, managing to win La Libertad Region only, although his party achieved congressional representation throughout the country.