Peru’s ex-president kills himself

Former Peru president Alan Garcia died in hospital yesterday after shooting himself in the head at his home as police were about to arrest him in a graft investigation, a party official said.

“Alan Garcia has died, long live Apra,” said Omar Quesada, the general secretary of Garcia’s American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (Apra) party. The attempted arrest took place at 6:30 am (1130 GMT) at Garcia’s home in the posh Miraflores neighborhood of Lima.

Garcia, who was president from 1985-90 and again from 2006-11, is suspected of having taken bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in return for large-scale public works contracts.

In November he sought refuge in the Uruguayan Embassy and applied for asylum but he left the next month after it was denied.

He is one of four Peruvian ex-presidents embroiled in various corruption scandals alongside Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials over three administrations.