# Former president of Peru, Alan Garcia, kills himself before arrest **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689 "2019-04-17T19:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/1 "2019-04-17T19:41:09Z")
Alan Garcia, former president of Peru (twice: 1985-1990 and 2006-2011) shot himself in the head when police went to his home to arrest him on charges of corruption related to the [Odebrecht scandal](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash) (Brazilian company went around bribing highly-placed politicians left and right, all over Latin America). Police went early in the morning to his flat to arrest Garcia. He asked for a moment in his room, which was granted. He went into his study room and, shortly thereafter, there was a gunshot. Police went into the room and found him on the floor with a bullet wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital,where he died a few hours later. Four ex-presidents of Peru (Alejandro Toledo, Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczinski and Alan Garcia) are or have been under investigation in relation to the Odebrecht bribery case. Toledo is on the run; Humala has been in jail, Kuczinski was arrested recently and put under preventive custody in jail, and Garcia was to have been arrested. Well… it cannot be denied that this is rather… spectacular. And I will say this about Alan Garcia: a crook he may have been, but when he found himself about to face the music, he went out “with honor” in the classical way, so to speak (echoes of Budd Dwyer, here, or of the classical trope of “being given a gun with a single bullet”). A couple of links in English: > **[Peruvian ex-president Alan Garcia kills himself as police arrive for...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/04/17/perus-former-president-alan-garcia-kills-himself-corruption-probe/3498811002/)** > > President Martin Vizcarra announced the death on Twitter, saying that doctors in the capital city of Lima performed emergency surgery. > **[Alan García, Ex-President of Peru, Is Dead After Shooting Himself During...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/world/americas/alan-garcia-dead.html)** > > Mr. García was under investigation on accusations of bribery in connection with the construction company Odebrecht, which is at the center of Latin America’s biggest graft scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/2 "2019-04-17T21:36:40Z")
Wow - that’s all very _film noir_, isn’t it? > [@USA Today](#): > > All but one living former head of state is being investigated for corruption tied to the scandal. That’s either a terrible sign of the state of their democracy, or a great sign that no-one is above the law. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/3 "2019-04-17T21:44:36Z")
But good to see Peru cleaning house. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/4 "2019-04-17T22:44:22Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > But good to see Peru cleaning house. Yup. Not like that’s gonna happen here. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/5 "2019-04-17T23:20:10Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Well… it cannot be denied that this is rather… spectacular. And I will say this about Alan Garcia: a crook he may have been, but when he found himself about to face the music, he went out “with honor” in the classical way, so to speak (echoes of Budd Dwyer, here, or of the classical trope of “being given a gun with a single bullet”). I dunno, I’ve never understood what’s honorable about the “officer’s solution”, I think it’s cowardly. I’d rather see the crooks found guilty in a fair trial and serving their time. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/6 "2019-04-17T23:29:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I dunno, I’ve never understood what’s honorable about the “officer’s solution”, I think it’s cowardly. I’d rather see the crooks found guilty in a fair trial and serving their time. Meh, it’s basically them sentencing themselves to a generally-considered-to-be harsher punishment than they’re likely to get from the courts, but costing the public way less time and money. If the concern is that they didn’t get a fair trial, I’d consider choosing suicide over arrest an admission of guilt. Sure it’s not in the records as such, but come on. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-president-of-peru-alan-garcia-kills-himself-before-arrest/832689/7 "2019-04-18T00:05:05Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Meh, it’s basically them sentencing themselves to a generally-considered-to-be harsher punishment than they’re likely to get from the courts, but costing the public way less time and money. > > If the concern is that they didn’t get a fair trial, I’d consider choosing suicide over arrest an admission of guilt. Sure it’s not in the records as such, but come on. Well, this practice reminds me of the time when all military officers, diplomats and other officials came from nobility. So if they stood undoubtedly convicted of a serious crime, they blew their brains out not to have to stand trial like the regular plebes. Not my kind of justice.