A parliamentary Mega-Commission [4] investigating corruption in the former administration of Álan García [5] has shocked Peru with its findings that some 5,500 pardons and commutations were granted under his presidency—including to 3,207 convicted on drug trafficking charges, at least 400 in high-volume cases. More than 800 of these are said to have returned to crime and are now fugitives. Mega-Commission president Sergio Tejada [6] has named Miguel Facundo Chinguel, head of García's Presidential Pardons Commission, as responsible in the fracas. But Mega-Commission member Carlos Tubino [4] has called for García himself to testify. Former special anti-corruption prosecutor José Ugaz, who opened the first investigation into the "narco-pardons," likewise says that the probe must reach "the highest levels" of the former administration. In March, a bomb was found under his car. (La Republica [7], May 31; Andina [8], May 30; RPP [9], May 12; Correo [10], March 9)
In a case of bad timing, the scandal comes just as ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori [11] has launched a high-pressure campaign from behind bars to press President Ollanta Humala for a pardon, releasing a steady stream of letters, photos and videos to the media emphasizing his depression and ill health. Congressman Omar Chehade [12] of the ruling Gana Perú coalition accused the imprisoned despot of a "grotesque manipulation." (Peru21 [13], Andina [14], June 1; La Primera [15], May 10)
Álan García entered into a Free Trade Agreement with the United States in 2009.
