Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia died in hospital on Wednesday after shooting himself in the head at his home as police were about to arrest him in a sprawling corruption case. He was 69.
The Peruvian Ministry of Health said that Garcia died at 10:05am of “a massive cerebral hemorrhage from a gunshot wound and cardiorespiratory arrest.”
Garcia was resuscitated three times after suffering heart attacks while undergoing emergency surgery, before finally succumbing, Peruvian Minister of Health Zulema Tomas said.
Photo: AFP
The Casimiro Ulloa Emergency Hospital in Lima earlier confirmed that he had suffered “a bullet wound to his head.”
“This morning there was a regrettable accident: The president took the decision to shoot himself,” Garcia’s lawyer, Erasmo Reyna, told reporters outside the hospital after Garcia was admitted.
“Alan Garcia has died, long live APRA,” said Omar Quesada, the secretary-general of Garcia’s American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) party.
The attempted arrest unfolded at 6:30am at Garcia’s home in Lima’s upmarket Miraflores neighborhood.
Police were acting on an arrest warrant for money laundering that would have allowed Garcia to be held for 10 days, giving authorities time to gather evidence and prevent him from fleeing, the prosecutor’s office said.
Garcia’s secretary, Ricardo Pinedo, said the former president had four or five weapons in his home that were gifts from the armed forces.
He used one of them to shoot himself, police said.
Police “heard a gunshot a few minutes” after entering Garcia’s house before finding him “sitting down with a head wound,” Peruvian Minister of the Interior Carlos Moran said.
Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra expressed his sympathy on his Twitter account.
“Dismayed by the death of ex-president Alan Garcia. I send my condolences to his family and loved ones,” Vizcarra tweeted.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Bolivian President Evo Morales added their own condolences, while Colombian President Ivan Duque said “with sadness we raise prayers” for Garcia’s family, adding: “Rest in peace.”
Peruvian Representative Mauricio Mulder, an APRA member, said that Garcia “took a dignified and honorable decision. An honorable act in the face of fascist persecution.”
Dozens of tearful supporters congregated at the hospital entrance when the news was announced.
Garcia, who was president from 1985 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2011, was suspected of having taken bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in return for large-scale public works contracts.
In November last year, he sought refuge in the Uruguayan embassy after a court ordered him not to leave the country for 18 months.
He applied for asylum, but following 16 days in the embassy he left when his request was denied.
Garcia, a social democrat, claimed to be the target of political persecution, an accusation denied by centrist Vizcarra.
Garcia had recently insisted that “there is no statement, evidence or deposit that links me to any crime and even less so with the Odebrecht company or the execution of any of its projects.”
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