Former President Alan García has committed suicide from a shot while he was to be arrested – Telam

Former Peruvian President Alan García pbaded away today after being shot in the head at his home in Lima, while he was to be arrested while he was accused of receiving bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Garcia, 69, was admitted to a Lima hospital at dawn with a bullet in the head, and was operated on at 7:10 am, the health ministry said in a statement.

Five hours later, his lawyer announced his death on his Twitter account, saying that Garcia was already "together" with the founder and historical leader of his Peruvian Aprista party, Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, who died in 1979.

"ALAN IS NOT DEAD, IT IS TOGETHER TO HAVE !! In pain, brothers!", Tweeted the lawyer, Erasmo Reyna.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra said he was "dismayed" by the death of former President Alan Garcia and offered his condolences to his family and loved ones in a message posted on his Twitter account.

García had entered Casimiro Ulloa Hospital with a bullet wound to the skull "with an entrance and exit," said hospital director Enrique Gutiérrez.

At a press conference at the hospital, Health Minister Zulema Tomas said the bullet had entered the right side of the head and left. Tomas added that Garcia had been revived after three cardio-respiratory arrests in the operating room.

Peruvian justice ordered today the 10-day pre-trial detention of the former president for the alleged commission of crimes
money laundering, trading in influence and collusion in the Odebrecht case.

Interior Minister Carlos Moran told the press that Garcia had informed the police and the prosecutor that they had come to arrest him and that he would call his lawyer from his room . At the second moment, a shot was heard. The police forced entry into the room, where "he found Mr. García sitting and with a head wound," he continued, "without wasting time", the agents proceeded to the transfer of the former president at the hospital, he said. by the RPP radio station.

Garcia was under investigation for allegedly receiving bribes as part of the construction of a subway line in Lima during his second government, from 2006 to 2011 The former president had stated that he had never received any money from Odebrecht.

Brazilian society is at the center of the Lava Jato corruption scandal, the largest in Latin America's history, since its admission in 2016, as part of a judicial agreement with the US Department of Justice, which paid nearly $ 800 million. dollars to politicians in the region in exchange for big contracts.

This case has led to the imprisonment of many Latin American politicians, especially in Peru, where former president Pedro Pablo Kucyznski had been arrested last week as part of an investigation for money laundering. Money regarding its links with the Brazilian company. In addition, Kuczynski, two other former Peruvian presidents, Alejandro Toledo and Ollanta Humala, have been convicted or charged in connection with the scandal.

Kuczynski was transferred last night to a clinic with a blood pressure spike, relatives said today.

A Peruvian judge ordered Kuczynski's 10-day detention last week while he was investigating previously unknown payments of $ 782,000 made by Odebrecht more than a decade ago. A hearing is scheduled on Wednesday to decide whether his detention is extended until three years.

The first presidency of García, between 1985 and 1990, was quite erratic and was marked by hyperinflation and by the rise of the Shining Path guerrillas. When he returned to power two decades later, his government was more conservative, leading to a commodity-driven investment boom in which Odebrecht played a very important supportive role.

The judiciary had already issued 18 months of impediment to leaving the country against the former president in November of last year. After taking cognizance of this resolution, García requested diplomatic asylum at the Embbady of Uruguay, which was rejected by the country's government in December 2018.

The purpose of the pretrial detention measure is to gather evidence that will be used as evidence in prosecutorial investigations.