García's first presidential term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest, corruption, and violence. At the conclusion of his first presidency, he was accused and investigated for corruption andillicit enrichment.[5] In 1992, he filed for asylum following presidentAlberto Fujimori's self-coup, and exiled himself with his family in Colombia and France for the next nine years.[6] In the aftermath of Fujimori's downfall, he made a political comeback as he ran for the presidency in2001, although he lost in the second round toAlejandro Toledo.[7][8] In2006, he was again elected to the presidency after defeatingOllanta Humala, a feat considered an unexpected political resurrection due to the failure of his first term.[9]
Throughout García's second term, Peru experienced a steady economy, becoming the fastest growing country inLatin America in 2008, surpassingChina in terms of rising GDP. The economic success of his presidency would be acclaimed as a triumph by world leaders, and poverty was reduced from 48% to 28% nationally.[10][11] In addition, Peru signedfree trade agreements with the United States and China during García's presidency, but accusations of corruption would persist throughout his term and beyond. He was succeeded by his former 2006 run-off rivalOllanta Humala in 2011. He withdrew from party politics after failing to advance to the second round of the2016 general election, placing fifth in his bid for a record third presidential term under thePopular Alliance coalition between his party and theChristian People's Party, which included former rivalLourdes Flores as one of his running mates.[12] On 17 April 2019, García died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head as police officers under a prosecutor's orders were preparing to arrest him over matters relating to theOdebrecht scandal.[13][14]
García is considered one of the most controversial yet talented politicians of Peru's history.[15] He was known as an immensely charismatic orator,[16] but nonetheless, a 2017 poll named García and his government as considered by Peruvians to be the most corrupt.[17]
From his first marriage, García had one daughter,Carla, who is also active in Peruvian politics since 2014.[22] With his second wife Pilar Nores, from whom he separated in 2010,[23] García had four children.[22] He also had another child from anextramarital affair with economist Roxanne Cheesman.[22]
Already recognized as a young leader with a bright future in the country, he was elected toCongress in 1980.[19] Two years later, he was elected General Secretary of thePeruvian Aprista Party. He was elected to serve as president of the Republic in the1985 general elections.[19]
García won the presidential election on 14 April 1985 with 45% of the votes. Since he did not receive the 50% of the votes required for a first-round victory, a run-off was scheduled between him andAlfonso Barrantes (the former mayor of Lima) of theUnited Left party. Barrantes, however, withdrew and decided not to enter the run-off, saying he did not want to prolong the country's political uncertainty. García was thus declared President on 1 June and officially took power on 28 July 1985. For the first time in its sixty-year history, theAPRA party came to power in Peru. Aged 36, García was dubbed "Latin America'sKennedy", becoming the region's youngest president at the time,[19] and the second youngest president in Peruvian history (the youngest wasJuan Crisostomo Torrico in 1842, aged 34).
His economic policy was based on APRA's initial anti-imperialist values with García distancing Peru from international markets, resulting in lower investment in the country.[4] Despite his initial popularity among voters, García's term in office was marked by bouts ofhyperinflation, which reached 7,649% in 1990[19] and had a cumulative total of 2,200,200% over the five years, which destabilized the Peruvian economy. Foreign debt under García's administration increased to $19 billion by 1989.[4] Owing to thischronic inflation, the Peruvian currency, thesol, was replaced by theinti in February 1985 (before his presidency began), which itself was replaced by thenuevo sol ("new sun") in July 1991, at which time the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion (1,000,000,000) old soles.
According to studies by theNational Institute of Statistics and Informatics and theUnited Nations Development Programme,[24] around the start of his presidency, 41.6% of Peruvians lived in poverty. During his presidency, this percentage increased by 13% (to 55%) in 1991. García also made an attempt tonationalise the banking and insurance industries. TheInternational Monetary Fund and the financial community recoiled after García's administration unilaterally declared a limit on debt repayment equal to 10% of theGross National Product, thereby isolating Peru from international financial markets.
His presidency was marked by corruption and world-record hyperinflation with the annual rate exceeding 13,000 percent per year. The administration devastated the local economy as well as all governmental institutions. Hunger, corruption, injustice, abuse of power, partisan elitism, and social unrest raised to dramatic levels spreading throughout the whole nation due to García's misdeeds and incompetence, spurring terrorism. The economic turbulence exacerbated social tensions and contributed in great part to the rise of the violentMaoist rebel movement known as theShining Path, which launched theinternal conflict in Peru and began attacking electrical towers, causing a number of blackouts in Lima. The period also saw the emergence of theTúpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).[25] The García administration unsuccessfully sought a military solution to the growing terrorism, allegedly committing human rights violations, which are still under investigation. These include theAccomarca massacre, where 47campesinos were gunned down by armed forces in August 1985;[26] theCayara massacre (May 1988), in which some thirty people were killed and dozens disappeared;[27] andthe summary execution of more than 200 inmates during prison riots in Lurigancho, San Juan Bautista (El Frontón) and Santa Bárbara in 1986.[28][29] According to an official inquiry, an estimated 1,600forced disappearances took place during García's presidency. His own personal involvement in these events is not clear. García was allegedly[by whom?] tied to the paramilitaryRodrigo Franco Command, which is accused of carrying out political murders in Peru during García's presidency. A U.S.declassified report, written in late 1987, said that García's party, APRA, and top government officials were running aparamilitary group, responsible for the attempted bombing of theEl Diario newspaper, then linked to Shining Path, had sent people to train inNorth Korea and may have been involved in executions.[30] According to investigative journalistLucy Komisar, the report made it clear that it believed García had given the orders.[30]
Alan García's historical economic failures were used by economistsRudi Dornbusch andSebastian Edwards to coin the termmacroeconomic populism.[31] Because of García's unpopularity by the end of his first term, at García's farewell speech on 28 July 1990, he was booed by the entire opposition forces and was almost prevented from speaking. The opposition force would slam their folders in their desks to interrupt García. Some opposition members even left the congress. The anecdotical event was televised.
Later that same day, the board of the Chamber of Deputies requested the creation of a special committee to investigate García's presidency, accusing him of massive corruption and illicit enrichment. The committee attacked García with numerous proven accusations involving embezzlement, misappropriation and bribery, based -among other trustworthy sources- on a U.S. congressional investigation that linked García with theBCCI scandal and had found millions of illicitly-obtained dollars in BCCI as well as other banks.
In 1991, New York District AttorneyRobert Morgenthau charged García officially. Later in 1992, then-U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry presided over the BCCI scandal report,[32] which concluded García was not only guilty of corruption, but directly involved in an international racketeering network with activities that included drug and arms trafficking. Finally, thePeruvian Supreme Court declared null all the probes and constitutional accusations gathered against García, allowing him to return to Peru after a 9-year self-imposed exile.
On 5 April 1992,Alberto Fujimori conducted aself-coup, through which he dissolved thePeruvian Congress unconstitutionally and intervened in the Judiciary and other public institutions. Due to these actions, various politicians were persecuted and prevented from leaving their homes. García had been serving asSenator for life since 1990, although he was unable to perform his duty due to the accusations of the Chamber of Deputies. On 18 October 1991, the Senate debated the proposal made by the lower house to indict García for alleged crimes of illicit enrichment and against the public faith, allegedly committed when he was performing public functions. The full Senate decided to suspend former President Alan García from the exercise of his functions as senator for life and put him on trial for alleged illicit enrichment during his presidential term with 38 votes in favor and 17 against.[33] He was able to return to the Senate in March 1992, after theSupreme Court dropped all constitutional charges against him. According toJorge Del Castillo in 2008, Alberto Fujimori orderedVladimiro Montesinos to capture and assassinate García on the day of the coup.[34][35] According to his own testimony, García escaped his home while military tanks took over the bloc where he lived.
After weeks of hiding in a construction site, he was able to enter theresidence of the Colombian Ambassador at the end of May, where he requested political asylum.[36] The request was granted on 1 June, by the government of PresidentCésar Gaviria. The former president left Peru through a pass that allowed him to board aColombian Air Force jet that transferred him toBogotá, along with then congressmanJorge Del Castillo.García arrived at Catam military airport and in statements to the press promised to fight against the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori.[37] The regime opened judicial processes to investigate illicit enrichment and for various accusations of corruption; after that, the extradition of García was requested from the Colombian government, which was denied.[38]
In 1994, the Human Rights Commission of theOrganization of American States denounced the Fujimori government for violation of the rights to liberty, security and due defense of Alan García and asked the Peruvian government to nullify the processes initiated.[39]
In April 1995, Congress lifted Alan García's parliamentary immunity in response to accusations of him having received bribes from the Italian consortium Tralima for the construction of theLima Metro. Based on this, the Civil Sector of theSupreme Court once again made a request to the Government of Colombia for García's extradition, which was denied because García went to live inParis for the rest of his exile.
During the years between 1993 and 2001, Alan García did not actively participate in Peruvian politics, except in the publication of some works on his first presidency, and a literary work entitled "El Mundo de Maquiavelo" (The World ofMachiavelli). He continued denouncing the human rights violations committed by the Fujimori administration. On rare occasions, Alan García appeared on Peruvian television and radio from Bogotá, Colombia.
In 2001, the Supreme Court declared the allegations that were imputed to him at the end of his first term had been annulled.[40]
Alan García returned to Lima on January 27, 2001, at 5:35pm. His return caused so much anticipation that a huge crowd of supporters was waiting for him at the airport chanting his name and showing support with hundreds of signs with the words "ALAN VUELVE". That same day at 8:30pm a rally was called in the Plaza San Martin de Lima where Garcia gave a speech in front of a large crowd.[41] Some say[who?] there were around 20,000 people that night. Garcia ran for president in the new elections called by the interim presidentValentín Paniagua, and in a 60-day election campaign he finished in second place in the first round behindAlejandro Toledo, qualifying him for the second round. Toledo's popularity remained stable, while Garcia's popularity was based on his innovative proposals on the issue of the agrarian bank,[further explanation needed] not continuing with aneoliberal model, etc. However, it was not enough to acquire more endorsements and support from Peruvian voters and Alejandro Toledo won the general elections in the second round with 53.1% of the vote against Garcia's 46.9%. After the2001 election, Garcia, as leader of the APRA party, became Leader of the Opposition.[19]
Geographic distribution of second-round votes in the 2006 election, by winning candidate.
Alan García, >2/3 of valid votes
Alan García, <2/3 of valid votes
Ollanta Humala, >2/3
Ollanta Humala, <2/3
García officially started his campaign for theApril 2006 presidential election in Lima on 20 April 2005.Ollanta Humala won the first round with 32.50% of the valid votes, followed by García, who got 24.32% (againstLourdes Flores' 23.81%). As no candidate won a majority, a run-off election was held on 4 June 2006 between Humala and García. Preliminary official results gave García an advantage over his run-off opponent, who conceded defeat.[19]
On 28 April 2006, prior to the run-off, García had become involved in a dispute withVenezuelan PresidentHugo Chávez. For the second time in Peruvian presidential election, Chávez declared his support for Ollanta Humala, García's opponent, and referred to García as a "robber", a "bandit", and "theCarlos Andrés Pérez of Peru". In response, García stated that Chávez was "not acting as a statesman" and challenged Chávez to a debate to be hosted byCNN. García called on theOrganization of American States to intervene in the matter.[42][43]
On 31 May 2006, a few days before the run-off election, García's economic adviser Enrique Cornejo told the media that if García won in the second round, his government would renew a US$422 million aid package with theInternational Monetary Fund.[44]Anoop Singh, the IMF's Western Hemisphere Director, responded positively by saying he was "impressed by the vision of the president-elected for Peru, especially his commitment to applying prudent economic policy."[45]
Alan García in Brasilia right after winning his second presidency.
On 28 July 2006, García was sworn in as president, after winning approximately 53% of the nationwide vote in the elections held on 4 June againstOllanta Humala.[19] He would spend the majority of his second term attempting to improve his reputation compared to his first term.[4]
He won in the capital city, Lima, and the northern coast, a geographical base of the APRA party, but lost in the southern region (mostly impoverished but including major cities such asCuzco andArequipa) and therainforest areas, considered Humala's strongholds. A third of the voters said that voting for him was "voting for the lesser of two evils": although many Peruvians had a very negative impression of García after his first term, they were frightened by rumours that Humala would create a government based onFidel Castro'sCuba and would turnHugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, into the virtual ruler of Peru, due to Chavez's patronage of Humala's party. These fears were accompanied by declarations of militarization, the re-introduction of the death penalty and criminalization and disrespect for LGBT communities. Humala denied these rumours, but his conflicting statements about his government's vision and Chávez's strong campaigning for him created enough suspicions among voters to cost him theballotage. With 36 seats, APRA was the second largest bloc in the 120-seat unicameralCongress which was sworn in a couple of days before the President. With 45 seats, Humala'sUnion for Peru Party, although divided into three factions, was the largest bloc.[46]
On 28 June, one month before García was sworn in, his party provided 25 of the 79 votes, nearly a third, ratifying thePeru–United States Trade Promotion Agreement in thePeruvian Congress. This was a month prior to the new legislature that would include the Union for Peru congressmen, who opposed the agreement with the USA. TheU.S. Congress ratified the agreement on 4 December 2007; it came into effect on 1 February 2009.[47]
In his first speech as president, García declared he would appoint a Finance Minister who was neither "an orthodox market liberal" nor a person "excessively in favour of state intervention in the economy". The position of prime minister was given toJorge Del Castillo. According to theBBC, in private interviews García had stated his interest in a possible future trade agreement with Brazil, and considered himself "an admirer" of Brazilian PresidentLula da Silva.[48]
In press conferences with the foreign press, García acknowledged that the support Humala received in the election "could not be ignored". García, in a recognition of future domestic politics with a UPP-controlled Congress, was quoted as saying "Mr. Humala is an important political figure, and a President should consult with different political factions".[48] However, Humala said he wouldn't salute the winner personally, adding that "he and his party will constitute the principal opposition bloc, not to fight Mr. García, but to defend the interests of the State and watch the government".[49]
President Chávez of Venezuela responded to García's comments on his showAló Presidente by stating that it was García who owed him an apology, saying: "the only way relations between the two countries can be restored is if Peru's elected President [García] gives an explanation and offers an apology to the Venezuelan people. He started throwing stones". Chávez questioned the legitimacy of the election, citing 1.2 million invalid ballots and a margin of victory of 600,000 votes, although offering no evidence for his comments.[50] García, invited to meet Brazilian president Lula da Silva, responded to Chávez: "Accept your defeat in silence. Don't ask me to apologize for something arising from interference and remarks that are unacceptable under international law."[51] Differences with Chávez were left behind after the two ended their dispute at the secondSouth American Community of Nations Summit.[52][53]
On 20 July 2006, García namedLuis Carranza, a former executive atSpain-basedBanco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Central Bank director and deputy finance chief from August 2004 to August 2005 inAlejandro Toledo's government, as finance minister. The appointment was welcomed by some critics of García's fiscal policies during his first administration. However, Mario Huamán Rivera, the President of theConfederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (General Workers Confederation of Peru), the country's largesttrade union, attacked the appointment, stating that "it looks as though Alan García is not going to fulfill his promise to change economic policy".[54][55]
On the day before his inauguration, García formally named his cabinet, including former Secretary-General of the APRA party and re-elected CongressmanJorge del Castillo as prime minister, Luis Carranza as minister of finance and economy, andJosé Antonio García Belaúnde as foreign affairs minister.[56] García was inaugurated as president on 28 July 2006.[57]
During his campaign, García had declared that he supported thedeath penalty for rapists of minors;[58] he reiterated this stance while in office, pushing a law on the issue, which would modify the criminal code.[59] Although the issue seemed to be stalled, García widened the range of his proposal for the death penalty by including terrorists in the list of those who could receive it.[60][61]
García faced his first major political defeat of his second term in office on 11 January 2007, when his proposal to introduce the death penalty as a punishment for capturedShining Path rebels was rejected by thecongress in a vote of 49 to 26. García had promised to introduce the death penalty for Shining Path rebels during the2006 Presidential election. Following the defeat of the proposal, he suggested a national referendum on the issue, but it was blocked by Congress. Legislators who voted against the bill stated that it would be a breach of theAmerican Convention on Human Rights, to which Peru is a signatory. Approximately 3,000 supporters of the proposal marched in Lima, holding up photos of victims of attacks by the Shining Path.[62]
On 5 June 2009, García ordered police and military forces to stop Amazonian indigenous protesters from blocking roads in theBagua region. They had been demonstrating against the signing by Alan García of special decrees that allowed foreign corporations to enter Indigenous lands for oil drilling, mining and logging. As a result of the protests and armed military incursion, more than 100 native civilians[63] and 14 policemen were killed.[64] The government claimed, in a redacted television commercial, that several policemen were killed after being taken prisoner,[65] while protesters claimed the bodies of the murderedNative Amazonians had been dumped into the river.[66][67]
With the passage of time, studies of human rights violations in Peru have discovered a close relationship between García and forces within Peru who promote impunity for human rights violators, through his involvement in appointing judges who would be sympathetic to perpetrators of human rights violations. García was also supportive of efforts to punish judges who handed down indictments of perpetrators. García himself was in the presidency during many gross violations of human rights and was quite hostile tohuman rights organizations and to judicial actors who sought justice for victims of human rights violations. During his presidency, García sought to tilt the legal playing field in favour of the military and against victims. He also tried to make life difficult forNGOs seeking to help victims: he offered extensive resources to defendants and military officers, while creating new laws that would make it difficult for human rights NGOs to do their jobs, receive necessary resources, and pursue the advancement of judicial action that attempted to bring human rights violators to justice.[68]
After being elected, in the months prior to his inauguration, García sought to heal Peru's relationship withChile, strained by the differences between the governments ofAlejandro Toledo andRicardo Lagos and severely impaired by former PresidentAlberto Fujimori's extradition affair.[69] García's intentions were well received byMichelle Bachelet, President of Chile, as she and García met and struck some preliminary agreements.[70][71] These conversations eventually led to the final draft of a landmark economic agreement with Chile a month after García was sworn in.[72][73]
On 9 November 2006, three months after being inaugurated, García signed 12 commercial agreements with PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva ofBrazil,[74][75] strengthening the relationship between the two countries. As part of theIIRSA programme and continuing integration efforts – including the August 2006 negotiations betweenPetrobras andPetroperú[76] – these new agreements sought to further bilateral cooperation.[77] García offered Peruvianhydropower to meet Brazil's growing energy needs, although further details were not disclosed.[78]
García, as he offered during the 2011 electoral campaign, made himself available to the new Head of State to serve the interests of Peru in the manner required.[79]
In addition, he also dedicated himself to writing opinion articles, mainly on his internal and external vision, primarily aimed at reducing poverty in Peru, increasing foreign investment and issues related to the growth of the Peruvian economy with social sensitivity.[80]
The salary increase for ministers carried out in February 2014 was harshly criticized by the former president, who during his government cut the salary of his Cabinet members by half, which, according to official spokesmen, caused a talent drain of the state apparatus. Through his Twitter account, he described the measure as "the great deal."
In 2013, a mega-commission was formed which lasted five years to investigate the alleged irregularities of the second government of Alan García, with the nationalist Sergio Tejada as head. Of the eight cases that the mega-commission analyzed, in none of them was the commission able to continue the investigations against the former president because he presented anamparo action against the commission, alleging the violation of due process. Consequently, the judiciary annulled everything that had been done with regard to García, thus preventing the investigation from continuing.
The Peruvian press reported that in May 2012, after leaving office, García was paid US$100,000 to give a speech to Brazilian business leaders in São Paulo, money which was later characterized in the media as, and suspected by Peruvian prosecutors to be, akickback from theBrazilian construction companyOdebrecht. Because García reported and paid taxes on each payment he received, and multiple organizations were willing to pay him to have him as speaker, his defense and lawyers were optimistic that they could show that the payments did not constitute bribery.[83]
In November 2018, García was banned from leaving Peru by the courts due to the Odebrecht scandal investigation. He entered the residence of the Uruguayan ambassador on 17 November, requestingasylum. Thus, on 18 November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru reported that the ambassador of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay had communicated the entry of the former president to his residence and the request for diplomatic asylum.[85] The Minister of Relations Uruguayan Foreign Ministry,Rodolfo Nin Novoa, reported that Uruguay had decided to process the asylum application. On 20 November, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry delivered a diplomatic note to the Uruguayan ambassador, Carlos Barros, on the request for diplomatic asylum presented by Alan García, expressing the position of the Peruvian government and denying the existence of political persecution.[86] However, on 3 December his request was denied, and he subsequently left the ambassador's residence.[87] On January 4, 2019, García appeared before the prosecutor's office as a witness to testify in the investigation carried out against Miguel Atala (former vice president of PetroPerú), for having received a bribe from theOdebrecht company.[88]
On 17 April 2019, García shot himself in the head while hiding in his bedroom as he was being presented with a ten-day preliminary arrest warrant related to investigations for corruption and bribes his presidential secretary allegedly received from Odebrecht.[90] Initial reports stated that officers had violated protocol, allowing García to be alone with the excuse that he was going to talk with his lawyer.[13][90] He was taken to the Casimiro Ulloa hospital and underwent an emergency surgical procedure, during which he experienced threecardiac arrests.[13][91] After four hours, his death was announced by the heads of theAmerican Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) political party and Nidia Vílchez, with the cause being a "massive"cerebral hemorrhage and cardiorespiratory arrest.[90][92][13][93] According to police sources, García had shot himself with hisColt Anaconda revolver, which had been given to him as a gift by thePeruvian Navy during his second term, and was among nine other firearms that the former president was licensed to own.[94]
A few hours after his death was announced, García's body was taken in a wooden casket to the APRA headquarters in Lima, where a memorial service was held on the same day.[95] PresidentMartín Vizcarra declared a three-day mourning period.
Various Peruvian and foreign authorities and personalities expressed their condolences to the family for the death of the former president.[96] On social media and on the Peruvian diaspora, public opinion was more polarized.[97][98]
García was 2008Latin Business Chronicle's "leader of the year" at a time when Peru was ranked as Latin America's third-best country for business.[99][100]
García was the author of several books on Peruvian and Latin American affairs. Most of them may be found in theNational Library of Peru. His published works include the following:
1981A la Inmensa Mayoría: Discursos
1982El Futuro Diferente
1987El Desarme Financiero: Pueblo y Deuda en América Latina
1990La Revolución Regional
1991La Defensa de Alan García
1992El Nuevo Totalitarismo
1994El Mundo de Maquiavelo
1997La Falsa Modernidad
1997Siete Tesis Erróneas del Neoliberalismo en América Latina
1999Mi Gobierno Hizo la Regionalización
2000La Década Infame: Deuda Externa 1990–1999
2003Modernidad y Política en el Siglo XXI: Globalización con Justicia Social
2005Sierra Exportadora: Empleo, Modernidad y Justicia en Los Andes
2011Contra el Temor Económico: Creer en el Perú
2012Pida la Palabra: Por la Libertad, la Plenitud y el Exito
2012Pizarro, el Rey de la Baraja: Política, confusión y dolor en la Conquista
2013Noventa años de aprismo: Hay, hermanos, muchísimo que hacer
2013Confucio y la globalización: Comprender China y crecer con ella
2014Sierra Exportadora: La creación de la Alianza del Pacífico
^Ezequiel A. Gonzalez-Ocantos, 'Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials in Latin America, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 2016, Chap 4 esp pp 169-172.
^"Will Chile send Aparicio to Peru?", 5 January 2006.The Economist
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