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Facing arrest, Peru ex-president Garcia shoots himself
LIMA, April 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Peru’s former president Alan Garcia shot
himself in the head at his home on Wednesday as police were about to arrest
him in a sprawling corruption case, his lawyer and hospital officials said.
The 69-year-old Garcia was undergoing emergency surgery for “a bullet
wound to his head” at the Casimiro Ulloa Emergency Hospital in Lima, the
hospital said.
Peru’s Health Minister Zulema Tomas said Garcia was in “very serious and
critical” condition.
“We’ve had to resuscitate him three times. He’s had three cardiac
arrests,” said Tomas.
“He is in a delicate condition and the prognosis is reserved,” added the
health ministry, which said the bullet went straight through Garcia’s head.
The attempted arrest took place at 6:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) at Garcia’s home
in the posh Miraflores neighborhood of Lima.
“This morning there was a regrettable accident: the president took the
decision to shoot himself,” Erasmo Reyna, Garcia’s lawyer, told reporters
outside the hospital.
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.
Some of those payments were allegedly made during Garcia’s second term in
office to secure a contract to build the Lima metro.
Peruvian press reports also claim Garcia received a $100,000 payment from
an illicit Odebrecht fund for giving a speech to Brazilian business leaders
in Sao Paulo in May 2012.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2022HRS