Alan García

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Alan Garcia)

Jump to navigationJump to search

This article is about the Peruvian ex president. For the Peruvian jockey, see Alan Garcia
(jockey). For the Mexican footballer, see Alan García Chávez. For the American actor and
director, see Al Ernest Garcia.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is García and

the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Alan García

President of Peru

In office

28 July 2006 – 28 July 2011

Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo

Yehude Simon

Javier Velásquez

José Antonio Chang

Rosario Fernández

Vice President Luis Giampietri

Lourdes Mendoza
Preceded by Alejandro Toledo

Succeeded by Ollanta Humala

In office

28 July 1985 – 28 July 1990

Prime Minister Luis Alva Castro

Armando Villanueva

Luis Alberto Sánchez

Guillermo Larco Cox

Vice President Luis Alberto Sánchez

Luis Alva Castro

Preceded by Fernando Belaúnde Terry

Succeeded by Alberto Fujimori

Senator for Life

In office

28 July 1990 – 5 April 1992

Member of the Chamber of Deputies

In office

26 July 1980 – 26 July 1985

Constituency Lima

Member of the Constituent Assembly

In office

28 July 1978 – 13 July 1979

President of the Peruvian Aprista Party

In office

7 June 2004 – 11 April 2016

Preceded by Position reinstated

Succeeded by Vacant

In office

15 July 1985 – 23 December 1988

Preceded by Position created

Succeeded by Position abolished

General Secretary of the Peruvian Aprista Party

In office

9 October 1982 – 15 July 1985

Preceded by Fernando León de Vivero

Succeeded by Armando Villanueva

Luis Negreiros

Personal details

Born Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez

23 May 1949

Lima, Peru

Died 17 April 2019 (aged 69)

Lima, Peru

Cause of death Suicide by gunshot

Political party American Popular Revolutionary Alliance

Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)[2]

Spouse(s) Carla Buscaglia (divorced)

Pilar Nores (m. 1978)
 Children 6[1]

Alma mater Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

National University of San Marcos

Complutense University

Pantheon-Sorbonne University

Signature

Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalaŋ ɡaβˈɾjel luðˈwiɣ ɡaɾˈsi.a

ˈpeɾes]; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019)[3][better  source  needed] was a Peruvian politician who served
as President of Peru from 1985 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2011. [4] He was the second
leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and the only party member ever to have served
as President.[5]
His first presidential term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest and
violence. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2001, losing in a run-off to Alejandro
Toledo.[6] In 2006, he was elected to the presidency for a second term. During García's
second term, due to the increase in global metal prices, Peru experienced a steady
economy, though his tenure also saw increased social conflict regarding indigenous rights
and corruption.[5]
On 17 April 2019, García shot himself as police officers were preparing to arrest him over
matters relating to the Odebrecht scandal; he died hours later.[7][8]
He was known as an immensely talented and charismatic orator, recognized by South
American leaders and critics as one of the best orators of the Spanish language. [9][10]

Contents

 1Early life
 2First presidency
 3Exile
 4Return to politics
o 4.1Peruvian National Election 2001
o 4.22006 Peruvian national election
 5Second presidency
o 5.1Foreign affairs
 6Post-presidency
o 6.1Odebrecht scandal and death
 7Public image
 8Published works
 9See also
 10References
 11External links
Early life[edit]
Born in the American 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 for being a
member of the Peruvian Aprista Party.[11] His mother founded the party's base in
the Camaná Province of the Arequipa Region. From a very young age, he accompanied his
father to party meetings and became acquainted with future leaders of the American
Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA),[12] such as Luis Alva Castro and Mercedes
Cabanillas. At 14, he was already an immensely talented orator 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.[11]
García studied law, first at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru -although the official
records of his tenure in this university were never found- and later earning a law degree
from the National University of San Marcos in 1971.[13] A year later, he left Peru for Spain,
where he studied for a PhD in law. For years García claimed to have earned a PhD; in
2014, however, documents from the university proved he never finished the work for it. [14] In
1974, he travelled to France with other members of the APRA to study at the
prestigious University of Paris I.[11] After earning a degree in sociology, 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.[11] 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.[12]
From his first marriage, García had one daughter, Carla, who is also active in Peruvian
politics.[15] With his second wife Pilar Nores, from whom he separated in 2010, [16] García had
four children.[15] He also had another child from an extramarital affair Roxanne Cheesman.[17]
Already recognized as a young leader with a bright future in the country, he was elected
to Congress in 1980.[12] 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.[12]

First presidency[edit]
See also: First presidency of Alan García

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's Kennedy", becoming the region's youngest president at the time, [12] and the
second youngest president in Peruvian history (the youngest was Juan Crisostomo
Torrico in 1842, aged 34).

Alfonso Guerra and Alan García at Moncloa Palace, August 1988.

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.
[5]
 Despite his initial popularity among voters, García's term in office was marked by bouts
of hyperinflation, which reached 7,649% in 1990[12] and had a cumulative total of
2,200,200% over the five years, which destabilised the Peruvian economy. Foreign debt
under García's administration increased to $19 billion by 1989. [5] Owing to this chronic
inflation, the Peruvian currency, the sol, was replaced by the inti 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,[18] 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 and the financial community recoiled after García's
administration unilaterally declared a limit on debt repayment equal to 10% of the Gross
National Product, 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. Alan García's inept and corrupt 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 rebel movement known as the Shining Path, which launched the internal
conflict in Peru 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).[19] 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;[20] the Cayara massacre (May 1988), in which some
thirty people were killed and dozens disappeared; [21] and the summary execution of more
than 200 inmates during prison riots in Lurigancho, San Juan Bautista (El Frontón) and
Santa Bárbara in 1986.[22][23] According to an official inquiry, an estimated 1,600 forced
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 paramilitary Rodrigo 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 a paramilitary group, responsible for the
attempted bombing of the El Diario newspaper, then linked to Shining Path, had sent
people to train in North Korea and may have been involved in executions.[24] According to
investigative journalist Lucy Komisar, the report made it clear that it believed García had
given the orders.[24]
Alan García's historical economic failures were used by economists Rudi
Dornbusch and Sebastian Edwards to coin the term macroeconomic populism.[25] At
García's farewell speech, he was booed by the entire opposition forces and prevented him
from speaking. The anecdotical event was televised. 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,
missappropiation and bribery, based -among other trustworthy sources- on a U.S.
congressional investigation that linked García with the BCCI scandal and had found
millions of dollars in this as well as other banks. In 1991, New York District Attorney Robert
Morgenthau charged García officially. Later in 1992, then Senator John Kerry presided over
the BCCI Scandal Report (https://archive.org/details/TheBCCIAffair), which concluded
García was not only guilty of corruption, but directly involved in an international
racketeering network with activities that included drug and arm trafficking. Finally, the
Peruvian Supreme Court, then controlled by García's partner in crime, president Alberto
Fujimori's right hand Vladimiro Montesinos and president of the judiciary system,
freemason and fujimorist Alejandro Rodríguez Medrano, overturned illicitly prior verdicts
declaring null all the probes and constitutional accusations gathered against García,
allowing him to return to Peru after a 9-year long self-imposed exile and become
presidential candidate to protect fujimorists from prosecution for their widespread
corruption, ensuring reciprocity with a member of their own good old boy and cleptocratic
network.
Exile[edit]
Blaming the crisis that was experienced during García's presidency, Alberto
Fujimori initiated the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis and took power through a self-
coup.[7] The economic crisis would allow Fujimori to utilize neoliberal economics, known as
"Fujishock".[5]
At this time, the Congress opened corruption charges against him. He denied the charges.
In 1992, Fujimori organized a successful Coup d'Etat precisely when García was about to
get arrested for his crimes. This allowed García to flee Peru and request asylum
denouncing an inexistent political persecution. The truth was that García was at the verge
of been indicted. Being a freemason, Colombian Brothers lobbied in García's favor and the
asylum was granted by president César Gaviria. García used his Colombian masonic
connections just as a stepping stone. Shortly after, under the protection of also freemason,
president Francois Mitterrand, García received again the privilege of political refuge and left
Colombia. He and his family managed to reside in the most aristocratic and expensive
neighborhood of Paris after purchasing property for a millionaire sum whose origin he has
never been able to explain. In 2001 the Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations
had run out. After living in Paris, France, Garcia returned to Peru in 2001,[12] following the
fall of Fujimori's government.

Return to politics[edit]
[26]

Peruvian National Election 2001[edit]

After a long-awaited return to Peru by the thousands of members of the APRA Party, Alan
García returns to Lima in January 27th 2001 at 5:35pm, his return caused so much
expectation that a huge crowd was waiting for him at the airport changing 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 the greatest
speech of his life in front of a large crowd, some say there were around 20 thousand people
that night. Garcia ran for president in the new elections called by the interim
president Valentín Paniagua, and in just 60 days of election campaign he won the second
place behind Alejandro Toledo, which led him to a second back, 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 model, etc. However, it was not
enough to acquire more endorsements and support from the peruvian voters and Alejandro
Toledo won the general elections in the second round. After the 2001 election, Garcia, as
leader of the APRA party, became Leader of the Opposition. <Reference name = britbio />
2006 Peruvian national election[edit]
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 the April 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% (against Lourdes 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.
[12]

On 28 April 2006, prior to the run-off, García had become involved in a dispute
with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. For the second time in a Peruvian presidential
elections, Chávez declared his support for Ollanta Humala, García's opponent, and
referred to García as a "robber", a "bandit", and "the Carlos 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 by CNN. García called on the Organization of American
States to intervene in the matter.[27][28]
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.[29] 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."[30]

Second presidency[edit]
See also: Second presidency of Alan García
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. [12] He would spend the majority of his
second term attempting to improve his reputation compared to his first term. [5]
He won in the capital city, Lima, and the northern coast, a geographical base of the APRA
party, but lost on the southern region (mostly impoverished but including major cities such
as Cuzco and Arequipa) and the rainforest 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's Cuba and would turn Hugo 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 the ballotage. With 36 seats, APRA
was the second largest bloc in the 120-seat unicameral Congress which was sworn in a
couple of days before the President. With 45 seats, Humala's Union for Peru Party was the
largest bloc, although it divided itself up into three factions. [31]
On 28 June, one month before García was sworn in, his party gave 25 of the 79 votes
(almost one third of the votes) that ratified the Peru–United States Trade Promotion
Agreement in the Peruvian Congress, one month prior to the new legislature that included
the Union for Peru congressmen, who opposed the agreement with the USA. The U.S.
Congress ratified the agreement on 4 December 2007 and it came into effect on 1 February
2009.[32]
In his first speech as President, García said 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, 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.[33]
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". [33] 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".[34]
Alan García and George W. Bush at the White House in October 2006.

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 [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.
[35]
 García, attending an invitation 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." [36] Differences
with Chávez were left behind after the two ended their controversy at the second South
American Community of Nations Summit.[37][38]
On 20 July 2006, García named Luis Carranza as Finance Minister, a former executive
at Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Central Bank director and deputy
finance chief from August 2004 to August 2005 in Alejandro Toledo's government. The
appointment was welcomed by some detractors of García's fiscal policies during his first
administration. But Mario Huamán Rivera, the President of the Confederación General de
Trabajadores del Perú (General Workers Confederation of Peru), the country's
largest trade union, attacked the appointment, stating that "it looks as though Alan García
is not going to fulfill his promise to change economic policy". [39][40]
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.[41] García was inaugurated as President on 28
July 2006.[42]
During his campaign, García declared that he supported the death penalty for rapists of
minors;[43] he reiterated this stance while in office pushing a law on the matter, which would
modify the Criminal Code.[44] 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.[45][46]