Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
vian politician who served as
President of Peru
The president of Peru (), officially the constitutional president of the Republic of Peru (), is the head of state and head of government of Peru. The president is the head of the executive branch and is the supreme head of the Peruvian Armed ...
for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
The Peruvian Aprista Party (, PAP) () is a Peruvian social-democratic political party and a member of the Socialist International. The party was founded as the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (, APRA) by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Tor ...
(APRA), and was its only member to have served as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
.
Mentored by the founder of the APRA,
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, he served in the
Constituent Assembly of 1978–1979. Elected to the
Peruvian Congress in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
, he rose to the position of General Secretary of the APRA in 1982, and was elected to the presidency in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
in a landslide.
García's first presidential term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest and violence. At the conclusion of his first presidency, he was accused and investigated for corruption and
illicit enrichment
Illicit enrichment generally refers to a situation in which a person has enjoyed some sort of wealth that cannot or has not been justified as coming from a legitimate source of income. The exact definitions for illicit enrichment, and the terminolo ...
. In 1992, he filed for asylum following president
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.*
*
*
*
*
*
* Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
's self-coup, and exiled himself with his family in Colombia and France for the next nine years. In the aftermath of Fujimori's downfall, he made a political comeback as he ran for the presidency in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, although he lost in the second round to
Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
. In
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, he was again elected to the presidency after defeating
Ollanta Humala
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...
, a feat considered an unexpected political resurrection due to the failure of his first term.
Throughout García's second term, Peru experienced a steady economy, becoming the fastest growing country in
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
in 2008, surpassing
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
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. In addition, Peru signed
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
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 rival
Ollanta Humala
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...
in 2011. He withdrew from party politics after failing to advance to the second round of the
2016 general election, placing fifth in his bid for a record third presidential term under the
Popular Alliance coalition between his party and the
Christian People's Party, which included former rival
Lourdes Flores
Lourdes Celmira Rosario Flores Nano (born October 7, 1959) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who served as a Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, councilwoman of Lima, Congress of the Republic of Peru, Deputy from Lima from 1990 to 1992, Democrati ...
as one of his running mates.
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 the
Odebrecht scandal.
He was transferred to a hospital in serious condition, where he remained for more than three hours in an operating room, during which he suffered three cardiorespiratory arrests before his death.
García is considered one of the most controversial yet talented politicians of Peru's history. He was known as an immensely charismatic orator.
Early life
Born in the Maison de Santé Clinic of the
Barranco District into a middle-class family, García met his father for the first time when he was five due to his father's imprisonment at
El Sexto Prison for being a member of the
Peruvian Aprista Party.
His mother founded the party's base in the
Camaná Province
Camaná is the district capital of the homonymous province, located in the Department of Arequipa, Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in ...
of the
Arequipa Region
Arequipa () is a department and region in southwestern Peru. It is the sixth largest department in Peru, after Puno, Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto, its sixth most populous department, and its eleventh least densely populated dep ...
. From a very young age, he accompanied his father to party meetings and became acquainted with future leaders of the
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
The Peruvian Aprista Party (, PAP) () is a Peruvian social-democratic political party and a member of the Socialist International. The party was founded as the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (, APRA) by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Tor ...
(APRA),
such as
Luis Alva Castro and
Mercedes Cabanillas
Mercedes Cabanillas Bustamante (born May 22, 1947) is a Peruvian educator and politician. A prominent member of the Peruvian Aprista Party, she served as Minister of Education in the first presidency of Alan García, making her the first woman ...
. At 14, he was already an immensely talented
orator
An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled.
Etymology
Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...
when he first gave a speech in honour of party founder
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, whom he admired and followed until his death.
[
García studied law, first at the ]Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic church, being the oldest private institution of higher learning in the country.
The Peru ...
and later earning a bachelor's degree from the National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...
in 1971. A year later, he left Peru for Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, where he pursued a doctoral degree in constitutional law under the guidance of Manuel Fraga
Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...
. For years García claimed to have earned the degree; in 2014, however, documents from the university proved he never finished the work for it. In 1974, he moved to France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
with other members of the APRA to study at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3 and the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l´Amérique latine (IHEAL).[ After earning a diploma in ]sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
from IHEAL, he was called by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre to come back to Peru in order to run for the Constituent Assembly election in 1978. García was elected a Member of the Assembly, where he impressed his colleagues with his oratory and skillful rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
.[ As APRA's Secretary of Organization, he was assigned to conduct the party's public affairs in the wake of Haya de la Torre's death in 1979.][
From his first marriage, García had one daughter, Carla, who is also active in Peruvian politics since 2014.] With his second wife Pilar Nores, from whom he separated in 2010, García had four children. He also had another child from an extramarital affair with economist Roxanne Cheesman.[
Already recognized as a young leader with a bright future in the country, he was elected to ]Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1980.[ Two years later, he was elected General Secretary of the Peruvian Aprista Party. He was elected to serve as president of the Republic in the 1985 general elections.][
]
First presidency (1985–1990)
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 and Alfonso Barrantes (the former mayor of Lima) of the United 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, the APRA party came to power in Peru. Aged 36, García was dubbed "Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
's Kennedy", becoming the region's youngest president at the time,[ and the second youngest president in Peruvian history (the youngest was Juan 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.] Despite his initial popularity among voters, García's term in office was marked by bouts of hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...
, which reached 7,649% in 1990[ 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.] Owing to this chronic inflation, the Peruvian currency, the sol, was replaced by the inti
Inti is the ancient Inca mythology, Inca solar deity, sun god. He is revered as the national Tutelary deity, patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since t ...
in February 1985 (before his presidency began), which itself was replaced by the nuevo 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 the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics and the United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
, 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 to nationalise the banking and insurance industries. The International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
and the financial community recoiled after García's administration unilaterally declared a limit on debt repayment equal to 10% of the Gross National Product
The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total amount of factor incomes earned by the residents of a country. It is equal to gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes received from n ...
, thereby isolating Peru from international financial markets.
His presidency was marked by 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 violent Maoist
Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
rebel movement known as the Shining Path, which launched the internal conflict in Peru
The internal conflict in Peru is an armed conflict between the Government of Peru and the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path. The conflict's main phase began on 17 May 1980 and ended in December 2000. From 1982 to 1997 the Túpac Amaru Rev ...
and began attacking electrical towers, causing a number of blackouts in Lima. The period also saw the emergence of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). The García administration unsuccessfully sought a military solution to the growing terrorism, allegedly committing human rights violations, which are still under investigation. These include the Accomarca massacre, where 47 campesinos were gunned down by armed forces in August 1985; the Cayara massacre (May 1988), in which some thirty people were killed and dozens disappeared; and the summary execution of more than 200 inmates during prison riots in Lurigancho, San Juan Bautista ( El Frontón) and Santa Bárbara in 1986. According to an official inquiry, an estimated 1,600 forced disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...
s took place during García's presidency. His own personal involvement in these events is not clear. García was allegedly tied to the paramilitary Rodrigo Franco Command, which is accused of carrying out political murders in Peru during García's presidency. A U.S. declassified
Declassification is the process of ceasing a protective classification, often under the principle of freedom of information. Procedures for declassification vary by country. Papers may be withheld without being classified as secret, and event ...
report, written in late 1987, said that García's party, APRA, and top government officials were running a paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
group, responsible for the attempted bombing of the '' El Diario'' newspaper, then linked to Shining Path, had sent people to train in North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
and may have been involved in executions.Lucy Komisar
Lucy Komisar (born 1942) is a New York City-based investigative journalist and drama critic.
Komisar was editor of the ''Mississippi Free Press'' in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962 to 1963. The weekly covered the civil rights movement and relat ...
Peru: US Gov’t Document Links García to 1980s Death Squads
, Inter Press Service
Inter Press Service (IPS) is a global news agency headquartered in Rome, Italy. Its main focus is news and analysis about social, political, civil, and economic subjects as they relate to the Global South, civil society, and globalization.
His ...
, 5 December 2007. According to investigative journalist Lucy Komisar
Lucy Komisar (born 1942) is a New York City-based investigative journalist and drama critic.
Komisar was editor of the ''Mississippi Free Press'' in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962 to 1963. The weekly covered the civil rights movement and relat ...
, the report made it clear that it believed García had given the orders.[
Alan García's historical economic failures were used by economists Rudi Dornbusch and Sebastian Edwards to coin the term macroeconomic populism.] 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 the BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...
scandal and had found millions of illicitly-obtained dollars in BCCI as well as other banks.
In 1991, New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau
Robert Morris Morgenthau ( ; July 31, 1919July 21, 2019) was an American lawyer. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County (the borough of Manhattan), having previously served as United States Attorn ...
charged García officially. Later in 1992, then-U.S. Senator John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
presided over the BCCI scandal report, 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, the Peruvian 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.
Exile
On 5 April 1992, Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.*
*
*
*
*
*
* Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
conducted a self-coup
A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...
, through which he dissolved the Peruvian 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 as Senator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...
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. He was able to return to the Senate in March 1992, after the Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
dropped all constitutional charges against him. According to Jorge Del Castillo in 2008, Alberto Fujimori ordered Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...
to capture and assassinate García on the day of the coup. 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 the residence of the Colombian Ambassador at the end of May, where he requested political asylum. The request was granted on 1 June, by the government of President César Gaviria
César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National D ...
. The former president left Peru through a pass that allowed him to board a Colombian Air Force
The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...
jet that transferred him to Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, along with then congressman Jorge Del Castillo.
García arrived at Catam military airport and in statements to the press promised to fight against the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori. 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.
In 1994, the Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
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.
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 the Lima Metro
The Lima and Callao Metro () is a rapid transit system that serves the cities of Lima and Callao, which make up the Lima metropolitan area. The existing metro lines (1 and 2) currently link the district of Villa El Salvador in the south of Lim ...
. Based on this, the Civil Sector of the Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
once again made a request to the Government of Colombia for García's extradition, which was denied because García went to live in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
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 of Machiavelli). 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.
Return to politics
2001 Peruvian national election
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. Some say there were around 20,000 people that night. Garcia ran for president in the new elections called by the interim president Valentín Paniagua
Valentín Toribio Demetrio Agustin Paniagua Corazao (23 September 1936 – 16 October 2006) was a Peruvian lawyer and politician who briefly served as 55th President of Peru from 2000 to 2001. Elected President of Congress on 16 November 2000, ...
, and in a 60-day election campaign he finished in second place in the first round behind Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
, 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, not continuing with a neoliberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
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 the 2001 election, Garcia, as leader of the APRA party, became Leader of the Opposition.
2006 Peruvian national election
García officially started his campaign for the April 2006 presidential election in Lima on 20 April 2005. Ollanta Humala
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...
won the first round with 32.50% of the valid votes, followed by García, who got 24.32% (against Lourdes Flores
Lourdes Celmira Rosario Flores Nano (born October 7, 1959) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who served as a Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, councilwoman of Lima, Congress of the Republic of Peru, Deputy from Lima from 1990 to 1992, Democrati ...
' 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.[
On 28 April 2006, prior to the run-off, García had become involved in a dispute with ]Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
. 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 "the Carlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...
of Peru". In response, García stated that Chávez was "not acting as a statesman" and challenged Chávez to a debate to be hosted by CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
. García called on the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
to intervene in the matter.
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 the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
. 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."
Second presidency (2006–2011)
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 against Ollanta Humala
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...
.[ He would spend the majority of his second term attempting to improve his reputation compared to his first term.]
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 as Cuzco
Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department.
The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...
and Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...
) and the rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
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 on Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
and would turn Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, 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 the ballotage
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
. With 36 seats, APRA was the second largest bloc in the 120-seat unicameral Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
which was sworn in a couple of days before the President. With 45 seats, Humala's Union for Peru Party, although divided into three factions, was the largest bloc.
On 28 June, one month before García was sworn in, his party provided 25 of the 79 votes, nearly a third, ratifying the Peru–United States Trade Promotion Agreement in the Peruvian 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. The U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
ratified the agreement on 4 December 2007; it came into effect on 1 February 2009.
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 to Jorge Del Castillo. According to the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, in private interviews García had stated his interest in a possible future trade agreement with Brazil, and considered himself "an admirer" of Brazilian President Lula da Silva.["García desestima roces con Chávez"]
, 6 June 2006 ''BBC Mundo''.
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".[ 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".
President Chávez of Venezuela responded to García's comments on his show '' Aló 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 arcíagives 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. 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." Differences with Chávez were left behind after the two ended their dispute at the second South American Community of Nations Summit.
On 20 July 2006, García named Luis Carranza, a former executive at ]Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Bilbao, with operative offices in Madrid. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ...
and Central Bank director and deputy finance chief from August 2004 to August 2005 in Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
'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 the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú
The Workers' General Confederation of Peru (in Spanish: ''Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú'' CGTP) is a national trade union center in Peru. It was formed in 1929 by José Carlos Mariátegui.
The CGTP is the largest trade union ...
(General Workers Confederation of Peru), the country's largest trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
, attacked the appointment, stating that "it looks as though Alan García is not going to fulfill his promise to change economic policy".
On the day before his inauguration, García formally named his cabinet, including former Secretary-General of the APRA party and re-elected Congressman Jorge del Castillo as prime minister, Luis Carranza as minister of finance and economy, and José Antonio García Belaúnde as foreign affairs minister. García was inaugurated as president on 28 July 2006.
During his campaign, García had declared that he supported the death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
for rapists of minors; he reiterated this stance while in office, pushing a law on the issue, which would modify the criminal code. 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.
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 captured Shining Path rebels was rejected by the congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in a vote of 49 to 26. García had promised to introduce the death penalty for Shining Path rebels during the 2006 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 the American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), also known as the Pact of San José or by its Spanish name used in most of the signatory nations, ''Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos'', is an international human rights instrument. It was ...
, 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.
On 5 June 2009, García ordered police and military forces to stop Amazonian indigenous protesters from blocking roads in the Bagua
The ''bagua'' ( zh, c=八卦, p=bāguà, l=eight trigrams) is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. ''Bagua'' is a group of trigrams—co ...
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 and 14 policemen were killed. The government claimed, in a redacted television commercial, that several policemen were killed after being taken prisoner, while protesters claimed the bodies of the murdered Native Amazonians had been dumped into the river.
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 to human rights organizations
:''The list is incomplete; please add known articles or create missing ones''
The following is a list of articles on the human rights organizations of the world. It does not include political parties, or academic institutions. The list includes ...
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 for NGOs 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.
Foreign affairs
After being elected, in the months prior to his inauguration, García sought to heal Peru's relationship with Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, strained by the differences between the governments of Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
and Ricardo Lagos
Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military di ...
and severely impaired by former President Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.*
*
*
*
*
*
* Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
's extradition affair. García's intentions were well received by Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...
, President of Chile, as she and García met and struck some preliminary agreements. These conversations eventually led to the final draft of a landmark economic agreement with Chile a month after García was sworn in.
On 9 November 2006, three months after being inaugurated, García signed 12 commercial agreements with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
of Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, strengthening the relationship between the two countries. As part of the IIRSA programme and continuing integration efforts – including the August 2006 negotiations between Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by and Trade name, trading as the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a Brazilian state-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. ...
and Petroperú
Petróleos del Perú (), better known as Petroperú, is a Peruvian state-owned enterprise and private law dedicated to the transportation, refining, distribution, and commercialization of fuels and other petroleum products. It has been owned by ...
– these new agreements sought to further bilateral cooperation. García offered Peruvian hydropower
Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
to meet Brazil's growing energy needs, although further details were not disclosed.
Post-presidency (2011–2019)
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.
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.
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."
García ran for a third term as president in the 2016 Peruvian general election
General elections were held in Peru on 10 April 2016 to determine the President of Peru, president, vice-presidents, composition of the Congress of the Republic of Peru and the Peruvian representatives of the Andean Parliament.
In the race for ...
as the candidate of the criticized Popular Alliance coalition which included APRA's old rival, the Christian People's Party with Lourdes Flores
Lourdes Celmira Rosario Flores Nano (born October 7, 1959) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who served as a Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, councilwoman of Lima, Congress of the Republic of Peru, Deputy from Lima from 1990 to 1992, Democrati ...
as his first running mate. The election's first round polls gave García 5.83% of the popular vote, preventing him from participating in the runoff election. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was ultimately elected.
Mega-commission
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 an amparo 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.
Odebrecht scandal
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, a kickback from the Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian construction company Odebrecht
Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...
. 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.
In 2016 and 2017, five of García's former ministers were accused of corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
by the Peruvian justice system: Yehude Simon (Prime Minister), Rosario Fernández (Minister of Justice), Mercedes Cabanillas
Mercedes Cabanillas Bustamante (born May 22, 1947) is a Peruvian educator and politician. A prominent member of the Peruvian Aprista Party, she served as Minister of Education in the first presidency of Alan García, making her the first woman ...
(Minister of the Interior), Ántero Flores Aráoz (Minister of Defence), and Luis Nava Guibert (Minister of Production).
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, requesting asylum. 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. 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. However, on 3 December his request was denied, and he subsequently left the ambassador's residence. 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 the Odebrecht company.
The scandal also led to arrests, where possible, of all of the other living former presidents of Peru who had served since 2000: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered to have shifted towar ...
, and Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
.
Suicide
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.[ 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.][ He was taken to the Casimiro Ulloa hospital and underwent an emergency surgical procedure, during which he experienced three ]cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
s. After four hours, his death was announced by the heads of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
The Peruvian Aprista Party (, PAP) () is a Peruvian social-democratic political party and a member of the Socialist International. The party was founded as the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (, APRA) by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Tor ...
(APRA) political party and Nidia Vílchez, with the cause being a "massive" cerebral hemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...
and cardiorespiratory arrest. According to police sources, García had shot himself with his Colt Anaconda revolver, which had been given to him as a gift by the Peruvian Navy
The Peruvian Navy (, abbreviated MGP) is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru, Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to from the Peruvian littoral. Additional missions include ...
during his second term, and was among nine other firearms that the former president was licensed to own.
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. President Martín Vizcarra
Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo (; born 22 March 1963) is a Peruvian engineer and politician who served as President of Peru from 2018 to 2020. Vizcarra Martín Vizcarra's governorship of Moquegua, previously served as List of regional governor ...
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. On social media, public opinion was more polarized.
Public image
García was 2008 '' Latin Business Chronicle''s "leader of the year" at a time when Peru was ranked as Latin America's third-best country for business.
Awards and recognitions
*:
**
Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes
The Order of the Condor of the Andes () is a state decoration of the Plurinational State of Bolivia instituted on 12 April 1925. The Order is awarded for exceptional merit, either civil or military, shown by Bolivians or foreign nationals. The ...
- 2010
*:
** Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit - 2011
*:
** Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit - 2010
*:
**
Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...
- 2008
*:
** Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa - 2009
Honorary doctorate
* Doctor Honoris Causa - University of Delhi
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
(1987)
Published works
García was the author of several books on Peruvian and Latin American affairs. Most of them may be found in the National Library of Peru. His published works include the following:
* 1981
* 1982
* 1987
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1994
* 1997
* 1997
* 1999
* 2000
* 2003
* 2005
* 2011
* 2012
* 2012
* 2013
* 2013
*2014
*2015
*2019
Electoral history
See also
* List of heads of state and government who committed suicide
* First presidency of Alan García
* Second presidency of Alan García
Notes
References
External links
Office of the President of the Republic of Peru official website
APRA's official site
''Latin Business Chronicle''
"Leader of the Year 2008: Alan García", 23 December 2008
Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation
Peru Election 2006 profile
''The University of British Columbia''
"Exiled García back in Peru"
BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...
, 28 January 2001
cverdad.org
(A brief report made by the '' Peruvian Commission of Truth'' involving Alan García)
"Extract from article discussing García's 2006 election victory"
23 June 2006
"Welcome to Washington, Mr. Peruvian President: Alan García Perez’s Regional Foreign Policy"
, Analysis by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1975. The organization can draw on a large number of interns of graduate and undergraduate students, who gain experience in dif ...
, 5 October 2006
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Alan
1949 births
2019 deaths
20th-century Peruvian politicians
21st-century Peruvian politicians
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance politicians
Candidates for President of Peru
Heads of state who died by suicide
Leaders of political parties
Left-wing populists
Male suicides
Members of the Democratic Constituent Congress
Members of the Senate of Peru
Politicians from Lima
Peruvian politicians who died by suicide
Presidents of Peru
Suicides by firearm in Peru
Peruvian people of German descent
Peruvian people of Mestizo descent
Peruvian people of Spanish descent
Peruvian people of Basque descent
2019 suicides
Exiled politicians
Peruvian Roman Catholics