Profile: Alan Garcia

Once reviled for leading Peru to economic ruin, Alan Garcia, 57, has reinvented himself as a moderate politician dedicated to social change but aware of financial realities.

Garcia say he has learned the hard way how Peru should be run

Born in Lima on May 23, 1949, studied law in Madrid, and sociology in Paris.
Once said he partly financed his studies by playing guitar in the streets.
Joined the centre-left APRA – Peru’s oldest political party – as a student in 1976 and was elected to the constitutional assembly in 1978.
Won a seat in Congress two years later.
Secretary-general of APRA from 1983 to 1985.
Elected president in 1985 at the age of 36.
Faced several corruption lawsuits at the end of his term.
Fled the country in 1992, when troops were sent to arrest him after the then president Alberto Fujimori shut down Congress and imposed martial law.
Wrote several books about Peru and Latin America during his years in exile in Bonn, Paris and Bogota.
His 1985-1990 administration was marked by four-digit inflation, unchecked leftist insurgencies and rampant corruption.
Admits he made some errors during his administration, but says he has learned the hard way how Peru should be run.
Returned to the political scene in 2001 after nine years of self-imposed exile, narrowly losing his first re-election bid to Alejandro Toledo, the current president.
Once fiery, he has toned down his speech, which now includes more free-market concepts and less populist rhetoric.
Has drawn support from the political right and the business community that once opposed him but feared a win by Ollanta Humala, who was seen as anti-business.
The 1.90-m tall lawyer punctuates his speech with poetry and salutes to independence heroes dear to the hearts of Peruvians.
Has promised to maintain orthodox macro-economic discipline, pledged to slash government spending, boost economic growth and support small and medium-size enterprises.
Says he will get tough on crime.
Is married and has four children.

Source: AFP