Facing arrest, former Peru...

firmed he had suffered “a bullet wound to his head.”

“This morning there was a regrettable accident: the president took the decision to shoot himself,” Erasmo Reyna, Garcia’s lawyer, told reporters outside the hospital after Garcia was admitted.

“Alan Garcia has died, long live APRA,” said Omar Quesada, the general secretary of Garcia’s American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) party.

The attempted arrest unfolded at 6:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) at Garcia’s home in Lima’s upmarket Miraflores neighborhood.

Police were acting on an arrest warrant for money laundering that would have allowed Garcia to be held for 10 days, giving authorities time to gather evidence and prevent him from fleeing, the prosecutor’s office said.

Ricardo Pinedo, Garcia’s secretary, said the former president had four or five weapons in his home that were gifts from the armed forces. Police said he used one of those to shoot himself.

Interior Minister Carlos Moran said police “heard a gunshot a few minutes” after entering Garcia’s house before finding him “sitting down with a head wound.”

‘Condolences’

Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra expressed his sympathy on his Twitter account.

“Dismayed by the death of expresident Alan Garcia. I send my condolences to his family and loved ones,” Vizcarra wrote in a tweet.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Bolivia’s Evo Morales added their own condolences, while Colombian leader Ivan Duque said “with sadness we raise prayers” for Garcia’s family, adding: “Rest in peace.”

APRA congressman Mauricio Mulder said Garcia “took a dignified and honorable decision. An honorable act in the face of fascist persecution.”

Dozens of tearful supporters congregated at the hospital entrance when the news was announced.

Garcia, who was president from 1985-90 and again from 2006-11, was suspected of having taken bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in return for large-scale public works contracts.

In November, he sought refuge in the Uruguayan Embassy after a court ordered him not to leave the country for 18 months.

He applied for asylum but following

16 days in the embassy he left when his request was denied.

Garcia, a social democrat, claimed to be the target of political persecution, an accusation denied by centrist Vizcarra.

On Tuesday, Garcia had said he would neither try to flee nor hide again.

He had recently insisted that “there is no statement, evidence or deposit that links me to any crime and even less so with the Odebrecht company or the execution of any of its projects.”

Although under investigation by the public prosecutor’s office, Garcia had not been charged with anything.

Money laundering and bribes

He was one of four Peruvian expresidents embroiled in various corruption scandals – alongside Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-18), Ollanta Humala (2011-16) and Alejandro Toledo (2001-06).

Kuczynski, who is accused of money laundering and was being held under a 10-day preliminary detention until April 20, was also taken to hospital on Wednesday suffering from high blood pressure.

Toledo faces extradition from the United States, having been charged with taking a $20-million Odebrecht bribe.