Alan García

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Alan García Pérez
President of Perú
In office July 28, 1985 – July 28, 1990
Preceded by	Fernando Belaúnde Terry
Succeeded by	Alberto Fujimori
Incumbent
In office since July 28, 2006
Preceded by	Alejandro Toledo
Born	May 23, 1949 Lima, Peru
Political party	Peruvian Aprista Party
Spouse	Pilar Nores de García

Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (born May 23, 1949 in Lima) is the current President of Peru after winning the 2006 elections on June 4, 2006 in a run-off against Union for Peru candidate Ollanta Humala.^[1] He is the leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and the only APRA party member to have ever served as President of Peru. He served a first term as President, from 1985 to 1990. His first term was marked by a severe economic crisis and social unrest and violence. He ran unsuccessfully for the Presidency in 2001 losing in a run-off to Alejandro Toledo.

[edit] Early years

García was born in Lima into a middle-class family with close ties to the already established APRA party. His father, Carlos García Ronceros, was the secretary of APRA during the government of Manuel A. Odría, which had declared the party illegal. Given his political militancy, his father was later arrested and imprisoned, leaving him alienated from his family and not meeting his son Alan until five years later.

García studied at the Colegio Nacional José María Eguren in Barranco, a district of Lima. He went on to university studies at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and later earned his law degree at the National University of San Marcos in 1971. Afterwards, he moved to Europe, attending the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, where he studied and completed his thesis on constitutional law, earning him a doctorate in political science. In 1973, he went on to the University of Paris, where he obtained a degree in sociology. García lived several years in Paris but, in 1978, Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, the elder leader of the APRA party (who would die one year later), urged him to return to political life in Peru, after the Bermúdez administration presided over the return to civilian government and allowed the reorganization of other political parties.

[edit] The first García presidency

García won the elections on April 14, 1985 with 45% of the votes. Since he did not receive the 50% of the votes required to win the presidency, García had to enter a run-off against Alfonso Barrantes Lingán (former leftist mayor of Lima) of the United Left party. Barrantes, however, retired and decided not to enter the run-off, saying he did not want to prolong the political uncertainty of the country. García was thus declared president on June 1 and officially took power on July 28, 1985. For the first time in its sixty-year history, the APRA party had come to power in Peru. Aged only 36, García was dubbed "Latin America's Kennedy," becoming the region's youngest president at the time.

Despite his initial popularity among Peruvian voters, García's term in office was marked by bouts of hyperinflation, which reached 7,649% in 1990 and had a cumulative total of 2,200,200% over the five years, thereby profoundly destabilizing the Peruvian economy. Owing to such chronic inflation, the Peruvian currency, the sol, was replaced by the Inti in mid-1985, which itself was replaced by the nuevo sol ("new sol") in July 1991, at which time the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion (1,000,000,000) old soles. During García's administration, the per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's GDP dropped 20%. By the end of his term, national reserves were a negative $900 million.

According to studies of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics and the United Nations Development Programme ^[2], around the start of his presidency, 41.6% of Peruvians lived in poverty. During his presidency, this percentage increased by 13% (to 55%) in 1991. García also made an attempt to nationalize the banking and insurance industries. He incurred the wrath of the International Monetary Fund and the financial community by unilaterally declaring a limit on debt repayment equal to 10% of the Gross National Product, thereby isolating Peru from the international financial markets.

The economic turbulence exacerbated social tensions in Peru and contributed in part to the rise of the violent rebel movement Shining Path, which had begun attacking electric towers, causing a number of blackouts in Lima. The García administration unsuccessfully sought a military solution to the growing terrorism, allegedly committing human rights violations which are still under investigation. These include the Accomarca massacre, where 47 campesinos were gunned to death by the Peruvian armed forces in August 1985, the Cayara massacre (May 1988) in which some thirty were killed and dozens disappeared, and the summary execution of more than 200 inmates during prison riots in Lurigancho, San Juan Bautista (El Frontón) and Santa Bárbara in 1986. According to an official inquiry, an estimated 1,600 forced disappearances took place during García's presidency. His own personal involvement in these events is not clear. In addition, there were unconfirmed but popular rumours that he was suffering from bipolar disorder. There were also rumours of ties to Colombian drug dealers, aside from public charges of high-level corruption and theft at all levels of his government, and the naming of APRA party members to various administrative positions that they were not qualified for.

García's presidency left the country with hyperinflation, isolated from the international financial community, with negative reserves of US$900 million, continuous subversive activities by the Shining Path, great increase in poverty levels and an electric train multi-million investment in Lima that was never finished. His critics claim the many poor decisions he took while in office created an environment that lead to the rise of an authoritarian leader like Alberto Fujimori. Some suspect García and APRA cut a deal with Fujimori during the 1990 election, backing him in return for immunity, so as to prevent Mario Vargas Llosa and his FREDEMO party, then leading in the polls, from coming to power. During the campaign, Vargas Llosa had promised to investigate corruption in the García administration.

[edit] Post-presidency (1990)

Alan García and Ollanta Humala embracing each other during the presidential debate.

In 1992, García went into exile to Colombia and later to France after Fujimori's auto-coup during which the military raided his house. The new government re-opened charges against him for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes. He denied the charges, and in 2001 Peru's Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations had run out. There were charges of corruption involved in this decision, as at the same time a law was struck down by Congress which prevented anyone who had been investigated for charges of corruption in a public office to run for president (what his supporters in Congress dubbed the "anti-Alan law"). García could not justify how he had homes in the richest neighbourhoods of Bogotá and Paris, in addition to having his daughter enrolled in a top private school in France, if his only alleged income was from being an occasional guest speaker and the author of a few books with poor sales. His long-time ally Jorge Del Castillo represented him as his lawyer and performed very heavy lobbying for allowing García to legally return to Peru. After Castillo was elected to Congress, he had much more leverage for García's defence.

After living eight years and ten months in neighbouring Colombia and in France, he returned to Peru in 2001, following Alberto Fujimori's resignation from the presidency. As it had been rumoured for many years, García ran for president in the new elections called by transitory president Valentín Paniagua, with Jorge Del Castillo as his campaign manager. García competed against some of his harshest critics and worst political enemies, including Lourdes Flores Nano and Fernando Olivera. García's theme during this election campaign was that he was the most experienced candidate and thus the most prepared, as he had made mistakes before as President, and had learned from them. He attributed all the problems of the Peruvian economy in his first presidency to the economic problems of Argentina and Brazil at the time. He distanced himself from accusations that he had been protected by Fujimori during his exile, and he would switch the topic when he was asked about his endorsement of Fujimori in the 1990 election.

Geographic distribution of second-round votes, by winning candidate.
██ Alan García, >2/3 of valid votes ██ Alan García, <2/3 of valid votes ██ Ollanta Humala, >2/3 ██ Ollanta Humala, <2/3

He finished a distant second in the first round, far behind Alejandro Toledo, but just slightly above Flores Nano (by 1%), enough to take him to a run-off, as Toledo failed to obtain the 50% majority. During the campaign for the run-off Toledo's popularity decreased, while García's popularity increased with his characteristic rhetoric and classical oratory delivery, that had helped him being elected in 1985. García managed to obtain 48% of the vote in the run-off, losing by a close margin to Alejandro Toledo. This was despite the movement "Voto Nulo" (vote in blank), led by Jaime Bayly, a popular writer and TV presenter, and Álvaro Vargas Llosa, son of the famous novelist, in which celebrities asked Peruvian voters to vote for neither candidate and instead intentionally damage their vote cards or leave them blank. Since the 2001 election, García, as leader of the APRA party, led the main opposition.

García officially started his campaign for the April 2006 presidential election in Lima on February 18, 2005. Ollanta Humala won the election with 30.62% of valid votes, followed by García, who got 24.32% (against Lourdes Flores' 23.81%). As no candidate won a majority, a run-off was held on June 4, 2006 between Humala and García. Preliminary official results gave García an advantage over his run-off opponent, who conceded defeat.

On April 28, 2006, prior to the run-off, García became involved in a dispute with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as Chávez, for the second time in the Peruvian Presidential elections, declared his support for Ollanta Humala, García's opponent, and referred to García as a "robber", a "bandit", and "the Carlos Andrés Pérez of Peru". García, in response, stated that Chávez was "not acting as a statesman" and challenged Chávez to a debate to be hypothetically hosted by CNN. García also called on the Organization of American States to intervene in the matter ^{[3] [4]}.

On May 31, 2006, a few days before the second round election García's economic adviser Enrique Cornejo told the media that if García won in the second round his government would renew a $422 million aid package with the International Monetary Fund. ^[5] Anoop Singh, the IMF's Western Hemisphere Director, responded positively by saying he was "impressed by the president-elect's vision for Peru, especially his commitment to applying prudent economic policy." ^[6]

[edit] The second García administration

Alan García next to the President of Congress Mercedes Cabanillas during the swearing-in ceremony as President of the Republic of Peru.

On July 28, 2006, García was sworn in as the new president of Peru after winning approximately 53% of the nationwide vote in the elections held on June 4, 2006. He was widely preferred by those who feared the deep changes Humala proposed (including the richest and most educated population) but lost in Cusco and Arequipa, and in some of the poorest regions, such as Huancavelica, Apurímac, Ayacucho and the rain forest areas: Loreto, Amazonas and Madre de Dios. The support for him was dubbed by a third or more of the voters as "voting for the lesser of two evils": many people in Peru had a very negative impression of García after his first presidency, but were scared of the rumours that Ollanta Humala would create a government that would imitate the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba and that Venezuela's Hugo Chávez would become the virtual ruler of Peru, given Humala's deference to him. Humala denied these rumors, but his conflicting statements about his government's vision and Hugo Chávez's strong campaigning for him created enough suspicions among voters to cost him the race. Thus, the country was deeply divided between the two candidates.

With thirty-six seats, APRA has the second largest bloc in the 120-seat unicameral Congress which was sworn in on a couple of days before the new President. With forty-five seats, Humala's Union for Peru Party has the largest bloc, although it has divided in up to three factions.^[7]

Following his victory García stated that he "seeks good relations with Venezuela" and did not intend to start a movement in the region against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. He stated that he would review a trade agreement between the United States and Peru established by the Toledo Administration before deciding to ratify the agreement. Although APRA's position towards the free trade agreement was qualified as ambiguous by their detractors, APRA had always sustained that they would approve the agreement with proper compensations for wheat, cotton and yellow corn producers. On June 28, one month before García was sworn in, his party gave 25 of the 79 votes (almost one third of the votes) that ratified the agreement in the Peruvian Congress, one month prior to the new legislature that will include the Union for Peru congressmen opposed to the agreement with the USA. The new Congress will still include a majority favourable to the free trade pact. Peru now awaits the agreement to be voted in the United States Congress.

President García recognized as the Supreme Commander of the Peruvian Armed Forces. The Minister of Defense Allan Wagner stands to García's right and Minister of Interior Pilar Mazzetti stands to his left.

On his first speech as President García said that he would appoint a Finance Minister who was neither "an orthodox market liberal" nor a person "excessively in favor of state intervention in the economy". Newspapers in Lima published that APRA was looking for collaboration with the famous Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, possibly as Prime Minister. However, the position of Prime Minister was given to Jorge Del Castillo, his long time collaborator. According to the BBC, in private interviews García has stated his interest in a possible future trade agreement with Brazil and considers himself "an admirer" of Brazilian President Lula da Silva.^[8]

In press conferences with the foreign press García has acknowledged that the support Humala had received in the election "could not be ignored". García, in a recognition of future domestic politics with a UPP controlled Congress, was quoted as saying "Mr. Humala is an important political figure, and a President should consult with different political factions".^[9] However, Mr.Humala has said he won't salute the winner personally, adding that "he and his party will constitute the principal opposition bloc, not to fight Mr. García, but to defend the interests of the State and watch the government".^[10]

Alan García at the White House.

President Chávez of Venezuela responded to García's comments on his show Aló Presidente by stating that it was Alan García who owed him an apology saying "the only way relations between the two countries can be restored is if Peru's elected President [García] gives an explanation and offers an apology to the Venezuelan people. He started throwing stones". Chávez also questioned the legitimacy of the election citing 1.2 million invalid ballots and a margin of victory of 600,000 votes, although he didn't offer evidence for his remarks.^[11] García, attending an invitation to meet Brazilian president Lula da Silva, responded back to Chávez by stating: "accept your defeat in silence. Don't ask me to apologize for something arising from interference and remarks that are unacceptable under international law."^[12]

On July 20, 2006 García named Luis Carranza, a former executive at Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Central Bank director and deputy finance chief from August 2004 to August 2005 in Alejandro Toledo's government, as Finance Minister of his new government. The appointment was welcomed by some detractors of García's fiscal policies during his first administration. Mario Huamán Rivera, the President of Peru's largest trade union the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (General Workers' Confederation of Peru), however has attacked the appointment stating that "it looks as though Alan García is not going to fulfil his promise to change economic policy".^{[13] [14]}

On the day before his inauguration García formally named his cabinet including former Secretary-General of the APRA party and re-elected Congressman Jorge del Castillo as Prime Minister, Luis Carranza as Minister of Finances and Economy, and José Antonio García Belaúnde as Foreign Affairs Minister.^[15] García was inaugurated as President of Peru on July 28, 2006. ^[16]

During his campaign, García declared that he supports death penalty for rapists of minors;^[17] he has repeated this stance while in office. He has even proposed a polemic law on the matter, which would modify the Criminal Code.^[18] Although the issue seemed to be stalled, García widened the range of his proposal for death penalty, including terrorists onto the list of those who could receive it.^[19][20]

On October 23, 2006, García publicly admitted that he had had a child outside of marriage, although he had fully recognized him as his own. With his wife standing by his side, García told the media the name of the one year and ten-month old child: Federico Danton García Cheesman. García said that the child resulted from an affair he conducted between 2004-2005 when he was separated from his wife.^[21] César Hildebrandt, the Peruvian journalist who revealed García's 6th child, was fired from the newspaper La Primera newspaper three days after García's public declaration. It is a matter of debate if his sacking had to do with the revelation or with the imprecise allegations he issued in order to make the episode into a bigger story.

There have been vague and dubious rumours about an assassination plot against García; these were initiated by a source from the U.S. Embassy in Lima.^{[22] [23]} Security has been tightened, ^[24] but the rumour was treated with skepticism, at best.^{[25] [26]}

[edit] Foreign affairs

After being elected, but before his inauguration, García sought to heal the relationship with Chile, which had been disturbed after some differences between the governments of Alejandro Toledo and Ricardo Lagos and severely impaired by the former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's extradition affair.^[27] García's intentions were well-received by Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, as she and García met and struck some pre-agreements.^[28][29] These conversations would eventually led to the final draft of a landmark economic agreement with Chile a month after García was sworn in. ^{[30] [31]}

On November 9, 2006, President Alan García signed twelve commercial agreements with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil,^[32][33] strengthening the relationship between both countries. As part of the IIRSA program and continuing integration efforts -including the August 2006 negotiations between PETROBRAS and PETROPERU-^[34], these new agreements seek to further bilateral cooperation. ^[35] García offered Peruvian hydropower to meet Brazil's growing energy needs, although further details were not disclosed. ^[36]

[edit] Council of Ministers

[edit] Published works

Alan García is the author of several books on the Peruvian reality and Latin America. Most of them may be found in the National Library of Peru. His published works include the following:

• 1988  A la inmensa mayoría: discursos
• 1989  El futuro diferente
• 1989  El desarme financiero: pueblo y deuda en América Latina
• 1990  La revolución regional
• 1991  La defensa de Alan García
• 1992  El nuevo totalitarismo
• 1994  El mundo de Machiavello
• 1997  La falsa modernidad
• 1997  Siete tesis erróneas del neoliberalismo en América Latina
• 1999  Mi Gobierno hizo la regionalización
• 2000  La década infame: deuda externa 1990–1999
• 2003  Modernidad y política en el siglo XXI: globalización con justicia social
• 2005  Sierra Exportadora - Empleo, Modernidad y Justicia en Los Andes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Office of the President of the Republic of Peru Official Site
• (Spanish) APRA's official site
• (Spanish) Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation
• Peru Election 2006: Alan García The University of British Columbia
• "Exiled Garcia back in Peru", BBC News Online, 28 January 2001
• cverdad.org (A brief report made by the Peruvian Commission of Truth involving Alan García)
• Extract from article discussing Garcia's 2006 election victory 23 June 2006
• Welcome to Washington, Mr. Peruvian President: Alan García Perez’s Regional Foreign Policy Analysis by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 5 October 2006.