García Pérez, Alan Gabriel Ludwig, 1949–2019, Peruvian political leader, president of Peru (1985–90, 2006–11). A lawyer and member of APRA, García was a charismatic speaker who rose rapidly in Peruvian politics. Elected to the congress in 1980, he became APRA's secretary-general two years later, and won the Peruvian presidency in 1985. García embarked on a leftist, nationalist program, but his attempts at reform were soon swamped by Shining Path violence and rampaging inflation, and his government was marred by profligate spending and corruption. Unpopular, and charged with corruption in 1992 by Fujimori's government, García went into exile. In 2001 he returned to Peru after the charges had lapsed and ran again for the presidency, but lost after a runoff to Alejandro Toledo Manrique. In 2006, however, he was regarded by many as more moderate and a lesser evil than his nationalist opponent, Ollanta Humala, a former army officer, and he won the presidency a second time. His second term was marked by economic growth based in large part on mineral and petroleum resources, but the exploitation of those also sparked sometimes violent conflicts with indigenous groups. He committed suicide when police tried to arrest him in connection with an investigation into the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Peru History: Biographies
