page_title: Alan García
section_title: Second presidency
hierarchical_section_title: Alan García / Second presidency
caption_attribution_description: Português: O presidente do Peru Alan García em Brasília.Português: El presidente de Perú Alan García en Brasília.
context_page_description: Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and the only party member ever to have served as President. Mentored by the founder of the APRA, Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, he served in the Constituent Assembly of 1978–1979 presided over by his leader, which drafted the Constitution of 1979. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1980, he quickly rose as the long-term successor to Haya, becoming party Secretary General in 1982. He was elected to the Presidency in the 1985 general election with 53% of the popular vote.
  His first presidential term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest and violence. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2001, losing in a run-off to Alejandro Toledo. In 2006, he was elected to the presidency for a second term. Throughout Garcia's second term, Peru experienced a steady economy, becoming the fastest growing country in Latin America in 2008, surpassing China in terms of rising GDP.
context_section_description: On 28 July 2006, García was sworn in as president, after winning approximately 53% of the nationwide vote in the elections held on 4 June. He would spend the majority of his second term attempting to improve his reputation compared to his first term.
  He won in the capital city, Lima, and the northern coast, a geographical base of the APRA party, but lost in the southern region (mostly impoverished but including major cities such as Cuzco and Arequipa) and the rainforest areas, considered Humala's strongholds. A third of the voters said that voting for him was "voting for the lesser of two evils": although many Peruvians had a very negative impression of García after his first term, they were frightened by rumours that Humala would create a government based on Fidel Castro's Cuba and would turn Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, into the virtual ruler of Peru, due to Chavez's patronage of Humala's party. These fears were accompanied by declarations of militarization, the re-introduction of the death penalty and criminalization and disrespect for LGBT communities. Humala denied these rumours, but his conflicting statements about his government's vision and Chávez's strong campaigning for him created enough suspicions among voters to cost him the ballotage. With 36 seats, APRA was the second largest bloc in the 120-seat unicameral Congress which was sworn in a couple of days before the President. With 45 seats, Humala's Union for Peru Party was the largest bloc, although it divided itself up into three factions.
  On 28 June, one month before García was sworn in, his party gave 25 of the 79 votes (almost one third of the votes) that ratified the Peru–United States Trade Promotion Agreement in the Peruvian Congress, one month prior to the new legislature that included the Union for Peru congressmen, who opposed the agreement with the USA. The U.S. Congress ratified the agreement on 4 December 2007 and it came into effect on 1 February 2009.
  In his first speech as President, García said he would appoint a Finance Minister who was neither "an orthodox market liberal" nor a person "excessively in favour of state intervention in the economy". The position of Prime Minister was given to Jorge del Castillo. According to the BBC, in private interviews García had stated his interest in a possible future trade agreement with Brazil and considered himself "an admirer" of Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
  In press conferences with the foreign press, García acknowledged that the support Humala received in the election "could not be ignored". García, in a recognition of future domestic politics with a UPP controlled Congress, was quoted as saying "Mr. Humala is an important political figure, and a President should consult with different political factions". However, Humala said he wouldn't salute the winner personally, adding that "he and his party will constitute the principal opposition bloc, not to fight Mr. García, but to defend the interests of the State and watch the government".
  President Chávez of Venezuela responded to García's comments on his show Aló Presidente by stating that it was García who owed him an apology, saying: "the only way relations between the two countries can be restored is if Peru's elected President [García] gives an explanation and offers an apology to the Venezuelan people. He started throwing stones". Chávez questioned the legitimacy of the election, citing 1.2 million invalid ballots and a margin of victory of 600,000 votes, although offering no evidence for his comments. García, attending an invitation to meet Brazilian president Lula da Silva, responded to Chávez: "Accept your defeat in silence. Don't ask me to apologize for something arising from interference and remarks that are unacceptable under international law." Differences with Chávez were left behind after the two ended their controversy at the second South American Community of Nations Summit.
  On 20 July 2006, García named Luis Carranza as Finance Minister, a former executive at Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Central Bank di
caption: Alan García in Brasilia right after winning his second presidency.
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