Jorge Aliaga Cacho - Biography.

Jorge Aliaga Cacho
(Foto: Rodolfo Moreno)

Jorge Aliaga Cacho is a writer, sociologist, educator and political activist, born in Lima, Peru. He studied primary education at the state school "República de Bolivia 405", also called "La Rectora." Then he studied at various secondary schools, including the Leoncio Prado Military College, where the Peruvian Nobel Prize winner, Mario Vargas Llosa, studied. In 1973, Jorge Aliaga Cacho, travelled to Cuba, and that same year represented the Peruvian youth, in Berlin, in the X World Festival of Youth and Students. In 1975, Jorge Aliaga, was elected President of the Workers Association in the National Institute of Culture (INC). That year, with other colleagues, he started a campaign to obtain official recognition for public servants trade unions. This initiative led to the formation of the CITE, La Confederaciòn Intersectorial de Trabajadores del Estado. In 1981, Jorge Aliaga Cacho, self-exiled in Scotland. There he worked at the Edinburgh College of Art and organized the workers' union that would form the basis of the NUPE (National Union of Public Employees). In 1985, Jorge Aliaga led the first strike in the history of art colleges in Scotland and negotiated successfully its pay claim

From 1986 to 1990, Jorge Aliaga Cacho, organized in Edinburgh the first Latin American ''Peña'' in the United Kingdom. In it the art and culture of Latin America were promoted. The ''Peña'' called "Jananti" became host to artists and intellectuals from Latin America: Awatiñas, Rumillajta, Inti Raymi, and Edgardo Villaroel, from Bolivia; APU, Amaru de Tinta and Marina Portocarrero, from Peru; the theater group "Guanaco" from El Salvador; members of the Inti- Ilimani, the guitarist Galvarino Cerón and the singer Carlos Arredondo, from Chile. The Peruvian writer Carlos Eduardo Zavaleta and the Colombian painter, Felipe, were also part of the Jananti scene. In those years the exhibition called: "El Oro del Perú" arrived in Edinburgh; This became the most successful Peruvian show ever held in the United Kingdom. It was organized with the participation of the Peruvian-Scottish Friendship Society, whose president was Jorge Aliaga Cacho.

From 1990 to 2001 Jorge Aliaga embarked on academic studies in Scotland. He studied at the University of Glasgow where he graduated with honours and was awarded a Master of Arts in Social Sciences (Sociology and Latin American Studies).

He then entered the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where he studied the Literature of River Plate and Translation Methodology. Later, he studied Pedagogy at the University of Edinburgh, which awards him the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).

Jorge Aliaga Cacho was Lecturer at Telford College and West Lothian College. He also taught Spanish at Whitburn Academy, Deans Community High School and the prestigious George Heriot's, institution that would serve as inspiration to J K Rowling to write his best seller, '' Harry Potter ''.

Jorge Aliaga Cacho's contribution to British culture has been recognized by the Hispanic Council and the Luso-Brazilian Council in London and by British artist Yinka Shonibare, entitled: ''The British Library'', it contains the names of the most prominent immigrants to the United Kingdom who have contributed to British culture. The permanent exhibition is mounted in the prestigious TATE GALLERY, in London.

Jorge Aliaga Cacho's work has been translated into English, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, German and Russian.

When Jorge Aliaga arrived in Scotland with Anne, who would later become his wife, they rented a flat on the upper floors of 228 Easter Road. He subsequently lived in Muirhouse, Pilton, Stockbridge, Glasgow's West End, and Kirkcaldy. One of his anecdotes tells that Jorge Aliaga Cacho appeared dancing the tango in a Taggart series entitled '' The last tango in Glasgow ''.

Jorge Aliaga Cacho has liaisons with writers who live in different parts of the world. He is a founding member of the Communist Party of Scotland and the Scottish Socialist Party. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Peruvian Communist Party, led by Jorge del Prado Chàvez. With deep socialist convictions, Jorge Aliaga Cacho has travelled to various countries such as Russia, Spain, Morocco, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, France, England, Wales, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. His works include, among others, the novel '' Secreto de desamor ''; in short stories ''Mufida, La angolesa''; in poetry "Mujeres malas mujeres buenas"; in essay "Terrorism in Peru"; "Jananti", a personal anthology.