Former Peruvian president Ollanta Humala has been convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 15 years in prison. This decision was announced by a court in Lima, which determined that Humala had accepted illicit funds from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht to support his election campaigns in 2006 and 2011.
Legal repercussions for the Humalas
Alongside Humala, his wife, Nadine Heredia, who co-founded the Nationalist Party with him, was also found guilty of money laundering and received a 15-year sentence. As reported by Peru’s foreign ministry, Heredia has been granted asylum in Brazil, allowing her safe passage to travel there with their son.
The prosecution had sought much harsher penalties, recommending a sentence of 20 years for Humala and 26 and a half years for Heredia. After over three years of court proceedings, the long-awaited verdict was delivered on a Tuesday. Humala attended the court session in person, while his wife participated via video link.
From military rebellion to presidential campaigns
The 62-year-old former president, who previously served as an army officer and fought against the Maoist Shining Path rebels, gained national attention in 2000 when he led a brief military uprising against then-President Alberto Fujimori. Humala first ran for the presidency in 2006, aligning himself with the Venezuelan president at the time, Hugo Chávez. During this campaign, prosecutors alleged that he received illegal contributions from Chávez to fund his electoral efforts. His opponent, Alan García, leveraged this connection to warn voters against allowing Peru to become “another Venezuela.”
In 2011, Humala pursued the presidency again, adopting a more moderate political stance. He emphasized that his policies would be inspired by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, rather than by Chávez’s socialist revolution in Venezuela. This strategy proved effective, leading to his victory over right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. However, Humala’s presidency faced significant challenges, including violent social conflicts that quickly eroded his popularity and loss of support from many Congress members.
His legal troubles began shortly after he left office in 2016. That year, Odebrecht admitted to paying substantial bribes to government officials and political entities across Latin America to secure contracts. Prosecutors alleged that the Humalas received millions from Odebrecht. In the following year, a judge ordered their detention pending trial, but they were released after a year while the investigation continued, ultimately resulting in the recent verdict.
“We are innocent,” the couple had maintained throughout the proceedings.