Peru’s long-running investigation into illicit political financing produced convictions against Ollanta Humala and Nadine Heredia, the husband-and-wife founders of the Nationalist Party. Judges in Lima imposed 15-year prison terms on both after concluding that prohibited contributions were channelled into Humala’s bids for the presidency in 2006 and 2011.
The National Superior Court found that the campaign operations received almost $3 million from two foreign sources: Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht and the administration of Venezuela’s then-president, Hugo Chávez. Prosecutors attributed Odebrecht’s contribution to the successful 2011 effort and said Venezuelan money supported the earlier campaign, which Humala lost. The couple rejected the allegations and portrayed the proceedings as political persecution.
Humala, a retired military officer who led Peru from 2011 until 2016, attended the hearing. Judge Nayko Coronado directed that those convicted be taken into custody immediately, and police escorted the former president away from the courtroom. Defence lawyer Wilfredo Pedraza said the punishment was excessive and announced plans to challenge the judgment on appeal.
Heredia followed the proceeding remotely rather than appearing in court. Earlier that day, she and the couple’s son entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima, where she sought diplomatic asylum. Brazil accepted the request, and Peru said it would comply with the 1954 regional asylum convention by granting safe passage. Heredia subsequently arrived in Brasília. Her brother, Ilán Heredia, was also convicted in the case and received a 12-year term.
The trial opened in 2022 and covered other defendants as well as the former presidential couple. Eight additional people were convicted. Humala and Heredia had already spent roughly a year in pretrial detention beginning in 2017 before being released while the investigation and prosecution continued.
The outcome placed Humala among several former Peruvian heads of state caught up in the sprawling fallout from Odebrecht’s conduct across Latin America. Alejandro Toledo was already serving a sentence of more than 20 years following a separate bribery conviction. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski remained under house arrest while another inquiry continued, and he maintained that payments made to him were lawful. Alan García died by suicide in 2019 when authorities sought to arrest him over Odebrecht-related accusations that he had denied.
Odebrecht publicly acknowledged in 2016 that it had operated an extensive bribery system across the region. The case decided against Humala and Heredia addressed money entering election campaigns, rather than a judicial finding that Humala accepted bribes while exercising presidential power. With an appeal planned, the verdict was subject to further review, but the immediate detention order gave it direct consequences for the former president.
