Peru’s former first lady flees to Brazil for asylum to evade prison
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SAO PAULO — Peru’s former First Lady Nadine Heredia and her youngest son arrived in Brazil on Wednesday after the neighboring country granted her asylum, her lawyer and the foreign ministries of both countries said.
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Heredia’s flight arrived in the capital, Brasilia, under the terms of a diplomatic asylum convention that Peru and Brazil are both part of. Heredia and her son will now go through the procedures to regularize their migration to Brazil, it said.
Earlier, Heredia’s lawyer, Julio Espinoza, told Peruvian radio RPP that she departed early Wednesday on an official plane provided by the Brazilian government.
Former President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were accused of laundering funds received from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 campaigns.
On Tuesday, a Peruvian court sentenced Heredia and her husband, Former President Ollanta Humala, 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 refuge 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.
Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his wife were in jail Friday after a judge ordered the couple detained for up to 18 months while prosecutors pursue money laundering and other charges against them.
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, who was in office from 1999 to 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 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.
Most of the presidents who have governed Peru since 2001 have faced legal problems due to their connections with Odebrecht; Alejandro Toledo is currently imprisoned, while Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is under house arrest. Alan García, who served two nonconsecutive terms, died by suicide in 2019 as authorities moved to arrest him in connection with Odebrecht bribes.
Beyond former presidents, prominent figures such as former presidential candidate Fujimori and numerous ex-governors are also under investigation.
Pessoa and Briceño write for the Associated Press. Briceño reported from Lima. AP journalist Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
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