Peru's former first lady flees to Brazil for asylum to evade prison
SAO PAULO — Peru's former first lady, Nadine Heredia, and her youngest son traveled Wednesday to Brazil after the neighboring country granted her asylum, her lawyer and the foreign ministries of both countries said.
Heredia's lawyer Julio Espinoza told Peruvian radio RPP that she departed early Wednesday on an official plane provided by the Brazilian government. A spokesman at Brazil's Foreign Ministry confirmed that the flight was en route to Brazil, but did not provide more details.
On Tuesday, a Peruvian court sentenced former President Ollanta Humala and his wife to 15 years in prison for laundering funds received from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 campaigns.
Humala, who attended the court session, was immediately jailed, while Heredia, 48, took refugee in the Brazilian Embassy with their son, Samin Humala, 14.
On Tuesday night, Peru's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Brazil granted diplomatic asylum to the former first lady and her son under a 1954 convention to which both countries are signatories. The ministry said Peruvian authorities granted them safe passage to Brazil.
Peru's Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
Heredia's brother, Ilán Heredia, also was sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering in the same case.
The judges of Peru's National Superior Court found that Humala and Heredia received almost $3 million in illegal contributions for political campaigns from Odebrecht and the government of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).
Humala, a 62-year-old retired military officer, came to power in 2011 after defeating right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori in the second round.
The trial began in 2022, and alongside Humala and his 48-year-old wife, the court convicted eight others. Both Humala and Heredia were held in pretrial detention from 2017 to 2018 at the prosecutor's request to prevent their flight.
Odebrecht's 2016 admission of widespread bribery across Latin America preceded the initial investigations against Humala, which started in 2015, a year before the company's revelations.
Most of the presidents who governed Peru since 2001 have faced legal problems due to their connections with Odebrecht. Toledo is currently imprisoned, while former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is under house arrest. Alan García, who served two non-consecutive terms (1985-1990 and 2006-2011), died by suicide in 2019 as authorities moved to arrest him in connection with Odebrecht bribes.
Beyond former presidents, prominent figures like former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori and numerous ex-governors are also under investigation.
Pessoa and Briceño write for the Associated Press. Briceño contributed reporting from Lima. AP journalist Mauricio Savarese contributed reporting from Sao Paulo.
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