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LIMA, Peru — A former president of Peru died on Wednesday after shooting himself in the head when the authorities tried to arrest him in connection with one of the biggest corruption scandals in Latin American history. A personal secretary for the former president, Alan García, 69, confirmed his death. The secretary, Ricardo Pineda, also told a Peruvian radio station that as the authorities arrived at the former president’s home with an arrest warrant, he locked himself into his bedroom, shot himself and was rushed to a hospital. The charges relate to Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction giant, which last year...

Peru's former President Alan García has shot himself as police came to arrest him. Casimiro Ulloa hospital in the capital, Lima, said he was in surgery where he was being treated for "a bullet wound to his head". Mr García is accused of taking bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht - claims he has repeatedly denied. Officers had been sent to arrest him in connection with the allegations. Health minister Zulema Tomás said Mr García's condition was "very serious and critical", and that he had to be resuscitated after suffering three cardiac arrests. "Let's pray to God to give him...

LIMA — It was more than just an answer to prayer. A US military mission that cornered and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was nothing short of a miracle, said Peru's President Alan Garcia, who attributed the divine intervention to newly beatified pontiff John Paul II. "His first miracle has been to rid the world of this incarnation of evil, this demon of hatred and criminality," the Peruvian leader said, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader. The late John Paul II showed uncanny timing, with his miracle falling on the very same day as a Rome ceremony beatifying him. Pope...

Peru's parliament has granted emergency powers to President Alan Garcia in order to deal with drug trafficking and organised crime. Congress overwhelmingly approved the move but around 20 Congressmen walked out of the session before the vote. President Garcia has promised not to abuse the powers, which are valid for the next 60 days. He will only have the power to rule by decree on nine specific types of crime, most of which relate to trafficking. Drug violence rise A prolonged strike in the centre of the country by coca farmers demanding the government cease its eradication of their crop...

Peruvian president Alan Garcia Thursday proposed a national referendum [press release, in Spanish] on introducing capital punishment for convicted terrorists after a legislative proposal to that effect was defeated 49-26 in the Peruvian Congress [official website] on Wednesday. Garcia described the defeat as one contrary to the will of the Peruvian people, and "[it was his] duty to fulfill what [he has] promised... in [his election] campaign." Political observers believe that Congress is unlikely to support the referendum proposal, which itself requires the approval of Congress. Congressional opposition to the proposal cite the American Convention on Human Rights [text], which...

CARACAS, Venezuela: Peruvian President Alan Garcia railed against Venezuela's foreign policy and the country's president, Hugo Chavez, saying the leftist leader has used a mix of petrodollars, blackmail and insults to divide rather than unite Latin America. Garcia told the Venezuelan daily El Universal in an interview published Sunday that Chavez "exercises power with a club or bag of money, blackmail and seduction." Chavez ? a sharp critic of U.S. President George W. Bush and Latin American leaders close to Washington ? says his government's foreign policy is based on solidarity and denies Venezuela is using its immense oil wealth...

Democracy: Peru's Alan Garcia should never have been re-elected to anything, given his disastrous term as president from 1985 to 1990. That voters forgave and re-elected him Sunday only shows how bad the alternative was. Two months ago, when the first round of Peru's presidential elections was held, there was reason to despair. Free-market candidate Lourdes Flores was knocked out of the running by just a few thousand votes. That left Alan Garcia squared off against a far-leftist of the Hugo Chavez stripe, Ollanta Humala, giving many Peruvians a difficult and loathesome choice. Garcia wasn't just a bad president; he...

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Left-of-center former President Alan Garcia led a run-off election on Sunday, exit polls showed, staging a huge political comeback after his 1980s government ended in economic ruin, rebel violence and accusations of rights abuses. Garcia had 52.8 percent of the vote, compared to 47.2 percent for ex-army nationalist Ollanta Humala, according to an exit poll released by respected firm Apoyo. A Datum exit poll gave Garcia 54.9 percent versus 45.1 percent for Humala. A Garcia victory would undermine efforts by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to take advantage of a populist tide in Latin America to challenge...

Garcia 52.8%, Humala 47.2%

Alan García looked to be on course to win a narrow victory in presidential election in Peru on Sunday, according to an early “quick count” released minutes after polls closed. Mr García, a populist former president, had 52.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of Ollanta Humala, his radical nationalist rival in the presidential race, who polled 47.2. per cent in a sample of votes counted by Apoyo, the country’s most respected pollster. “We seem to have a probable winner,” said Alfredo Torres, head of Apoyo, the country’s most respected pollster, which conducted the quick count. In comments to the...

Peruvians elect a president By TYLER BRIDGEStbridges@MiamiHerald.com June 4, 2006 LIMA - Some 16 million Peruvians began voting at 8 a.m. this morning (Central Standard Time) to select their next president. They have a stark choice: center-left Alan García, a former president, or ultra-nationalist leftist Ollanta Humala, a retired lieutenant colonel. It is an unappealing choice for nearly half the voters. García's presidency 20 years ago ended with food shortages, hyperinflation, accusations of corruption and a spreading insurgency by the Shining Path guerrilla. García, 57, said he has learned from his mistakes. Humala has provoked fears that he will turn...

Latin America: It looks like Peru's election will bring a new leftist strongman to the region. That's sad, given how much progress Peru has made in recent years. There's still tallying to do. But if trends continue, the winner will be far-left Ollanta Humala, followed by Peru's disastrous ex-president, Alan Garcia. The unpromising pair will face off for a final round in May. Hard to say which would be worse. Humala's a verified human-rights violator who tortured peasants as an army officer in the 1990s. He's also an admirer of dictators, like Peru's last one, Juan Velasco, remembered in the...