Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia 
The president of Peru’s conference of bishops has called for calm after two-time former Peruvian President Alan Garcia died on April 17 after shooting himself in the head as authorities prepared to arrest him.
“A sad end for this person, who was also important, independently from political and financial situations,” Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte of Trujillo said. “He was a political leader.”
Noting that there were strong opinions about the former president, the archbishop urged “serenity, calm, and that these situations not occur again”.
The Peruvian bishops’ conference later issued a brief statement of sympathy to Mr Garcia’s family, friends and colleagues, saying, “We call on the mercy and tenderness of God the Father, who knows the depths of the human heart, to grant him the joy of his eternal presence.”
Mr Garcia, 69, was accused of taking bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht during his second term of office, 2006-2011. His first term, 1985-1990, was marked by hyperinflation, economic chaos, and brutal massacres by both leftist rebels and security forces.
When police arrived to arrest him, Mr Garcia asked to make a phone call, according to Interior Minister Carlos Moran. He went into a room, closed the door and shot himself with a gun he had in his home. He underwent emergency surgery at a nearby hospital but died several hours later.
