Protest outside Uruguay embassy in Lima as former president seeks asylum
305 views · Published 26 November 2018 · 1:57 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(20 Nov 2018) A small group of construction workers marched to the Uruguayan embassy in Lima on Tuesday to show their discontent with former President Alan Garcia's request for asylum. Outside the ambassador's residence in the leafy San Isidro neighbourhood, the protesters called Garcia a mafioso. Garcia sought asylum in Uruguay's diplomatic mission on Saturday, hours after a judge retained his passport as part of a probe into allegations he received illegal payment from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Union leader Manuel Coronado said they were ready to mobilize their entire base to continue protests if Uruguay grants Garcia asylum. On Monday, Peru's president said the government would send Uruguay President Tabare Vasquez documents on the case against Garcia. Garcia said he is a victim of political persecution. On Saturday, a judge in Lima granted prosecutors' request that Garcia be banned from leaving Peru for 18 months. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America's biggest corruption scandal after admitting in a 2016 plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that it paid corrupt officials across Latin America nearly 800 million US dollars in exchange for major infrastructure contracts. The scandal has led to the jailing of numerous politicians across the region, especially in Peru, where former President Pedro Pablo Kucyznski was forced to resign for hiding his past work as a consultant to Odebrecht and Garcia as well as two other former presidents, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo, are being probed for allegedly taking illegal payments. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9a0880dbf3877841216640a0fdc7f9df
