Alan García

Biography

Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician, lawyer, sociologist, and writer who was President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms, from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. Born in Lima, he was the second leader of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) and the only APRA member to ever become president. Mentored by APRA founder Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, García quickly became a skilled speaker and political organizer, serving in the Constituent Assembly of 1978–1979 before being elected to the Peruvian Congress in 1980. He became General Secretary of APRA in 1982 and won the presidency by a large margin in 1985 at 36, making him one of Peru's youngest heads of state.

García's first term (1985–1990) faced many problems. His government dealt with hyperinflation, social unrest, and growing violence from the Shining Path and MRTA insurgencies. His move to cap foreign debt repayments at ten percent of export earnings upset international creditors and worsened the economic crisis. By the end of his term, he was accused of corruption and illicit enrichment. When President Alberto Fujimori staged a self-coup in 1992, García sought asylum and spent nine years in exile in Colombia and France, where he continued his academic work.

After Fujimori's fall, García returned to Peru and ran for president in 2001, losing to Alejandro Toledo in the second round. He ran again in 2006, defeating nationalist Ollanta Humala in a second round. His political return was often called a comeback due to his first administration's failures. His second term (2006–2011) saw significant economic growth. In 2008, Peru became Latin America's fastest-growing economy, even surpassing China in GDP growth rate, and poverty rates dropped from 48 to 28 percent. Free trade agreements were signed with the United States and China, and García was internationally recognized for his handling of the economy, receiving Spain's Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic in 2008 and South Korea's Grand Order of Mugunghwa.

After leaving office in 2011, García stayed involved in APRA politics but lost influence. He sought a third presidential term in the 2016 election but finished fifth in the first round and did not advance. In later years, he was caught up in investigations related to the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal, which affected many political figures across Latin America. On 17 April 2019, as police arrived at his Lima home to arrest him on corruption charges, García died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 69 years old. His death shocked Peru and sparked a widespread debate about the country's anti-corruption efforts and the impact on its political leaders.