Summary:
A former Peruvian President, Alan Garcia shot himself in his home when police arrived to arrest him for having a connection with a corruption scandal. When police arrived at his home to arrest Garcia, he asked to make a phone call in his room. A few minutes later, a shot rang out and officers found Garcia sitting on a chair with a bullet wound to his head. Garcia had four to five weapons that he received from the military, and one was used to shoot himself. He was rushed to the emergency for surgery but could not be saved.
Garcia was the president of Peru from 1985 to 1990, and 2006 to 2011. He was balmed for taking bribes from Odebrecht and committing financial crime during his second term in office: even though he denied taking the money. Garcia also said he was the victim of political persecution and that there were no clues that accused him of being guilty. Odebrecht is a Brazilian construction company that pays electoral candidates from countries in Latin America bribes in exchange for profit making building contracts. The company admitted to paying almost $30 million in bribes to Peru since 2004 and financing many political campaigns for candidates. Now, five of the most recent presidents of Peru are being investigated for being involved with this company.
Reaction:
In my opinion, I think Garcia's decision to end his life was a hasty decision. I think it was really sad to hear that he would jump to suicide instead of facing time in jail. I feel bad for the citizens in Peru as well as the other countries who might be connected to Odebrecht because it is scary to live in a place when leaders of your country or candidates are not being honest. Suicide is also a common cause of death and in this case, it just reminds us that we should do anything to help people avoid going to this solution. He should of never been involved with this scandal from the very beginning, because this resulted to his death.
Connection:
This article connects to the totalitarian unit when we learned about Stalin because they both made illegal actions when they were in control. Alan Garcia was taking bribes from this major company to make profit. Stalin used his role as general secretary to massively gain power by appointing regional district city and town party secretaries. Stalin also gained power by using terror to ensure that people still supported him. This relates to each other because Garcia and Alan both used their position to take advantage of people who supported them.
Questions:
1. Why do you think Garcia was involved in this scandal?
2. Should people living in other Latin America countries be fearful of having a connection with Odebrecht?
3. What should the government undertake to solve this issue?
A former Peruvian President, Alan Garcia shot himself in his home when police arrived to arrest him for having a connection with a corruption scandal. When police arrived at his home to arrest Garcia, he asked to make a phone call in his room. A few minutes later, a shot rang out and officers found Garcia sitting on a chair with a bullet wound to his head. Garcia had four to five weapons that he received from the military, and one was used to shoot himself. He was rushed to the emergency for surgery but could not be saved.
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| Alan Garcia had been accused of taking bribes form Brazilian firm Odebrecht |
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| Supporters gathered outside the hospital to grieve |
Reaction:
In my opinion, I think Garcia's decision to end his life was a hasty decision. I think it was really sad to hear that he would jump to suicide instead of facing time in jail. I feel bad for the citizens in Peru as well as the other countries who might be connected to Odebrecht because it is scary to live in a place when leaders of your country or candidates are not being honest. Suicide is also a common cause of death and in this case, it just reminds us that we should do anything to help people avoid going to this solution. He should of never been involved with this scandal from the very beginning, because this resulted to his death.
Connection:
This article connects to the totalitarian unit when we learned about Stalin because they both made illegal actions when they were in control. Alan Garcia was taking bribes from this major company to make profit. Stalin used his role as general secretary to massively gain power by appointing regional district city and town party secretaries. Stalin also gained power by using terror to ensure that people still supported him. This relates to each other because Garcia and Alan both used their position to take advantage of people who supported them.
Questions:
1. Why do you think Garcia was involved in this scandal?
2. Should people living in other Latin America countries be fearful of having a connection with Odebrecht?
3. What should the government undertake to solve this issue?
This article implies Garcia’s connection with Odebrecht lead to his suicide. I agree that it is devastating that Garcia turned to taking his own life over spending time in jail for a crime he commited. According to this article, Odebrecht admitted to $30 million bribes with Peru. This put Garcia in a place to be arrested, and commit suicide. Therefore, other countries that have connections with Odebrecht should be fearful. If Odebrecht admitted to fraud once, they may just as easily admit to fraud again. Having a connection to Odebrecht would lead to the arresting of political leaders involved. If those leaders are valuable to their country, this could cause great turmoil amongst their people, their economy, and their government.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Garcia is only one of many who fell to corruption and allowed the temptation of money to make him, as this article states, take kickbacks from Obebrecht in order to benefit himself and his increase his own power. I think it’s interesting that the past four Peruvian presidents have committed similar crimes and have all then attempted to avoid the consequences of their wrongdoings. Just to mention a few- Garcia requested political asylum in Uruguay, and the president before him, Alejandro Toledo, is currently a fugitive in the US. This scandal wasn’t uncovered until 2016 when Obebrecht confessed their corruption, yet the first Peruvian president said to be involved came into power in 2001, meaning Obebrecht had been working with these leaders for about 15 years without anyone knowing. This leads me to believe that Odebrecht has some close, and quiet, connection with those high in power in the Peruvian government, allowing them to easily get involved with the president (and only the president) without alerting anyone else. I think it’s crazy that a construction company, even one as big as Obebrecht, would have enough power to manipulate the literal leader of a 32 million person country and continue to remain influential as their former “clients” resign from their power or even go as far as taking their own lives.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39194395
I agree that Garcia was involved with Odebrecht to gain power. Its very interesting how Odebrecht has been secretly going on with other political leaders for fifteen year because I am surprised they didn't get caught sooner. Every political leader involved with Odebrecht only thought about themselves and the increase in power they would get from it. And I agree that the leaders were manipulated because Odebrecht is such a big company and having so many connections to other leaders including Garcia shows how easy it is to trick someone.
DeleteIt is a tragedy that some of the world's leaders will commit such heinous crimes, and then take their lives before accepting the consequences of their actions. Political leaders are often seen as the "Face of the Country," and are often considered the most influential people within their regions. Many politicians often do whatever it takes to reach office, but once called out, some will face the truth while others will avoid conviction. It is more noble to accept and overcome wrongdoings, rather than allow others to take the blame, or attempt to avoid the situation by desperate means, such as suicide. I believe that Garcia was involved in this scandal in order to gain more power and money through the scandal with Obebrecht. The deal given to Garcia was too good to resist in his eyes, which led him to accept the deal at the expense of his presidency, his trustworthiness, and eventually his life. His decision to commit suicide seems a bit excessive for the extent of the crime committed, and perhaps the loss of life is not worth a few years in prison. I think that other latin american countries should investigate connections with corporations like Olbebrecht, and see how it could lead to corruption or other problems within governments. People should not be scared of problems like this, rather they should be wary of politicians who are able to be bribed and possibly elect new leaders who are not as corruptible and willing to make business deals with large corporations solely for the purpose of profit. The government should look for these connections, and when they are found, have a certain set of punishments that will be enforced for all crimes falling under the same category.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/suicide-of-former-president-brings-criticism-of-perus-pretrial-detentions/2019/04/18/2088d344-61d9-11e9-bf24-db4b9fb62aa2_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8a1204fc10d9
I think that Alan Garcia was involved in this scandal for various reasons. One, is that money was very easy to obtain by him through these bribes. He probably thought that he could get away with these secret agreements. Often times, corrupt leaders desire large sums of money, and obtain this money by creating scandals like these. As evident by his suicide, he was probably overwhelmed and completely guilt of the crime that he committed. Knowing his life was going to be miserable, he probably decided that killing himself was the only option. Although this is very gruesome, the fact that Garcia deceived the Peruvian government in the first place is surprising. 30 million dollars is a ton of money, and many would go to the extreme to receive this large sum, Garcia being one of them. His decision to do so was quite sneaky, but at least he was caught.
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Garcia was involved in this scandal to help his country. Alan wanted to gain money fast in order to help his country, Peru. I don't think the way he gained money was right or legal, but he just wanted to help. He also probably didn't know that he was going to get caught with this big of a scandal since it has been going on for awhile. In the end, it makes me sad that he had to end his life instead of facing jail time and it also makes me said that he didn't gain honest money for his country.
ReplyDeleteIt is very upsetting that Mr. Garcia's own decisions while in government led to his own death. Although his death came as a saddening shock to not only the people of Peru but the rest of the world, his suicide just further highlights all the corruption occurring in many governments worldwide. When in power, many leaders have difficulties sticking to what is right as with all their power they have the ability to take the easier, and unrighteous path. I believe Garcia was most likely involved in this money scandal to gain electoral votes in Peru. Although very difficult to completely stop or prevent government leaders from becoming involved in illegal actions such as Odebrecht, there are some new ideas that could be implemented. The government could try and create more ways in which the president's actions are taken to better follow/track to make sure their moves are legal. In addition, Peru as well as other governments could better protect themselves from these companies to avoid association or involvement in unlawful actions such as Mr. Garcia's unfortunate decisions.
ReplyDeleteI think it isn't right that monetary corruption like that of above should be hidden from the public. Garcia probably bribed $30 million because he wanted/needed the money. But, that huge sum of money could have gone to more efforts in improving the country as a whole. Such corruptive actions continue to persist throughout the world. But it is sad that the pressure that such important officials feel causes them to take their own life. In order to prevent such actions, there must be a less exclusive and more open atmosphere so that the public can understand what is happening in the government. What Garcia did wasn't right, but he probably feared the comments of the public eye and his time in jail.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, it is expressed Odebrecht lead to Garcia's suicide. It is truly devastating that a world leader would commit such a crime and end their life without accepting the consequences for their action. I believe Alan Garcia was involved in this for various reasons. His temptation with money helped benefit him in obtaining power. Many politicians will do whatever it takes to help get in office let alone win. Most will accept the truth and take accountability for their actions while some others might avoid the truth at all costs. I believe that the deal made with Odebrecht was too good to pass up, leaving him with not only money but power in his eyes. This scandal also questions his trustworthiness of his presidency. This situation could have been avoided with a punishment of probably a few years in prison rather than the cost of his life. All in all, Peru, as well as other governments can avoid these types of situations and protect themselves by not being involved in these actions, as well as the government, who should have set punishments for these unlawful actions.
ReplyDeleteI think Garcia was involved in this scandal just for pure greed. It'd be incredibly easy to accept bribes and easily gain millions of dollars. He was in a high position of power and wanted to earn more money easily. I think other latin countries should be afraid of having a connection with Odebrecht because it's apparent they have a lot of money to use for bribery and they could possibly control the a bunch of powerful political figures. To resolve this issue, the government should look at the the account or balance details of figures to see if there's any suspicious activity.
ReplyDeleteI think other Latin American countries should know that their governments and politicians may have connections with Odebrecht. This bribing scandal has occurred, not only in Brazil, but also in Peru, and there is no guarantee that Odebrecht wasn't involved in other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela that had similar bribery cases. Because of Odebrecht's extensive branches in 21 countries, I personally think that it is quite possible that many of these countries’ politicians have connections to Odebrecht and have gained power through corruption and, specifically, bribery (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39194395).
ReplyDeleteI do think that people in positions of power specifically should be afraid of unsavory involvement with Odebrecht. The consequence of any connection should depend on the nature of the involvement. Was it for personal monetary or political gain, as Garcia's seemed to be? Or was it for legitimate business purposes? Working with Odebrecht in and of itself is not a negative thing. Again, it depends on the motive. I say people in positions of power (i.e., politicians) specifically because they are in the public eye and have a responsibility to do good for their people. Leaders need to be trustworthy figures-- entire countries rely on them. Partaking in a corruption scandal sends essentially the opposite message to the people: it tells them that 1) this person has their own best interests in mind and not the peoples' and 2) they are willing to conceal or lie about their actions in order to save face. However, the symbolic meaning of corruption isn't the only reason it should be condemned. The article said that Garcia was supposedly taking bribes from Odebrecht. Odebrecht was given the "go-ahead" by Garcia to do whatever they wanted, with no consequence. Garcia would have been the one to originate the consequence, but he accepted bribes and was thus removed from the picture. This isn't just a symbolic issue. The actions and billions of dollars are planted firmly in the real world. According to Business Insider, the bribes allowed Odebrecht making around 3.3 billion dollars (https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-odebrecht-corruption-scandal-2017-5). Who knows where else this money could have been used if it weren't lining the pockets of a massive corporation. Politicians who are involved with Odebrecht-- and any corruption scandal-- should be very afraid.
ReplyDeleteGarcia fell victim to his yearning for power and money and turned to doing illegal activities to get it. While I don’t think people should necessarily be fearful of having connections with Odebrecht, I do think it’s not a good idea to take illegal bribes ever, but, like Gracia, especially not in a position of power and influence. Considering Odebrecht’s notorious involvement in illegal activities, Latin American countries should stay way. Presidents and officials being involved in bribing scandals is not a new occurrence. Washington post states that the last three peruvian presidents have been caught up in corruption scandals as well. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/corruption-scandals-have-ensnared-3-peruvian-presidents-now-the-whole-political-system-could-change/2018/08/11/0cd43ab0-9a82-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.af81f031721c) This is definitely an issue the government needs to look into and attempt to solve. In order to keep their government and country running smoothly, people must crackdown on corruption. Governments should be fair and honest and follow laws to keep a country in order, but when that country’s leader can’t even be truthful and follow his own laws, it leads to chaos. While I know that something has to be done about the corruption present in the peruvian government, I am unsure of how to fix it. I think the best thing to do would be have an investigation and give jail time proportionate to the crimes of all the politicians involved in scandals.
ReplyDelete