Peru’s Ex-President Alan Garcia Commits Suicide Ahead of Arrest

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia committed suicide on Wednesday morning minutes after being handed a temporary warrant for his arrest. Garcia was linked to Brazil’s Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption scandal.

Garcia was accused of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht.

While officers waited, Garcia locked himself in a room and shot himself. Garcia was rushed to a nearby hospital in Lima but died during surgery.

Alan Garcia, 66, was still being investigated, and not yet a defendant. Last year, the former leader denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was being persecuted. He sought political asylum in Uruguay, but it was denied by the Uruguayan authorities.

Odebrecht has admitted that Peru is one of the several countries where officials were bribed so that the company could obtain lucrative contracts.

In 2016, several Odebrecht executives admitted to U.S. officials in plea-bargaining agreements that the company distributed more than US$29 million in bribes in Peru between 2005 and 2014 for benefits in infrastructure works.

Alan García and former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala testified in February 2017 about irregularities in infrastructure works during their terms in office, including their dealings with Odebrecht.

In January 2017, the Peruvian government announced that it was canceling a US$7 billion pipeline project led by Odebrecht and ordered the Brazilian company to shut down all of its operations in the country and leave. At the time, the company agreed to pay the Peruvian government US$8.9 million in reparations.