Alan García 1949-2019

The Socialist International deeply regrets the passing of Alan García Pérez, former President of Peru and a former leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party, APRA, who sadly took his life on 17 April 2019.

Alan García was born into politics during a time when his father was persecuted and jailed for being a member of the APRA party. He did not meet his father until he was five years old, following his father’s release from prison. His mother was also active in the party and founded APRA in Camaná, Arequipa. Growing up, García regularly attended party meetings with his father, learning to speak publically and meeting with important party figures. He became a member of APRA’s youth group and went on to study law in Lima with further studies in Madrid and Paris.

In 1978, responding to a call by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre to come back to Peru in order to run for the Constituent Assembly , García was elected a Member of Congress in 1980. After becoming General Secretary of the party in 1982 he was elected as the party’s presidential nominee for the 1985 general elections, winning the first round of the presidential elections on 14 April 1985 with 45% of the votes. García was set for a second round run-off with Alfonso Barrantes but was declared president after Barrantes withdrew his candidacy. When he was inaugurated on 28 July 1985, he became the youngest president in the region, aged 36, and had helped bring APRA to power in Peru for the first time in the party’s history.

In 1992, Alan García was forced into exile by Alberto Fujimori’s coup. He moved to Colombia and later France, and was unable to return to his country for almost nine years. After Fujimori’s fall in 2001, García arrived back to Peru determined to make a difference. He was elected president of the APRA party in 2004, a post he held until 2016. In April 2006 he was once again elected as President of Peru, having won 53% of the vote, and governed the country until July 2011.

The International conveys its deepest sympathy to Alan García’s family and loved ones at this difficult time of loss, and to the APRA party, which has been a longstanding active member of the Socialist International.