Chapter9 ‘THE PERUVIAN ODYSSEY 169 regimes had shown surprising enlightenment and had stepped aside after “restoring order,” but the usual course of such revoluciones was for the colonels, generals, or sometimes sergeants, to translate themselves into “presidents for life,” a euphemism for dictator. For multinational companies, dealing with such rulers is tricky business, as Utah soon learned in its dealings with General Velasco. Through 1969, Velasco and his advisors worked on a major overhaul of bureaucratic structures, attempted to “unify” public opinion by setting state controls over the media, and enacted a number of reforms. Then in 1970, Velasco launched his “third course,” a vigorous national reform campaign poised between capitalism and socialism. This aimed to increase greatly government control over much of the economy, and it inevitably increased conflicts with foreign-owned enterprises. As a part of this program, it nationalized International Telephone and Telegraph’s 69 percent ownership of Peru’s telephone system and ordered all foreign companies to abandon rural landholdings within six months. Generally troubling was the new Industrial Law, categorizing industries as either private, mixed (public and private), state, or private “reformed” (in which workers and management jointly operated the enterprise). The plan clearly aimed at restricting foreign investors by requiring all foreign firms to sell majority control to Peruvian investors over a fifteen-year period, and by requiring the executives of existing investments to file divestment plans. The government also ordered that all foreign currency holdings be declared and converted into sols, even as the stateowned Banco de la Naci6n bought out Banco Popular, owned by the old Peruvian-based oligarchy, Chase Manhattan’s Banco Continental, and the Banco Internacional, which had a minority American participation. (The Velasco régime exhibited a sophisticated approach. For instance, it compensated Chase Manhattan at three times book value, a step that enabled a peaceful withdrawal from Peru and a friendly welcome from Chase’s New York headquarters, when and if the military government desired a loan.) These acts brought financing for central economic planning securely under state control. While these and other measures signaled a clear trend toward a state-owned economy, none menaced Marcona directly until the