SAO PAULO (AP) — 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.
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.
Peru's Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Former First Lady 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.
AP journalist Franklin Briceño reported from Lima. AP journalist Mauricio Savarese contributed to this report from Sao Paulo.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - Peru's former President Ollanta Humala, accompanied by his wife Nadine Heredia, speaks to reporters at the entrance of their home after they were released from prison in Lima, Peru, April 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Joel Alonzo, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — From worker rights rallies to marches for social justice, activists around the globe will kick off May Day demonstrations on Thursday.
In some countries, it’s a public holiday honoring labor, but activists planning marches in the United States say much of their message is about fighting back against President Donald Trump’s policies targeting immigrants, federal workers and diversity programs.
Thousands are expected at demonstrations from Tokyo to Chicago. In some parts of the U.S., though, fear sowed by the Trump administration is expected to keep some immigrants home.
“Everybody is under attack right now,” said Jorge Mujica, a longtime labor leader from Chicago, where May Day rallies historically have had a large turnout.
The roots of May Day, or International Workers Day, stretch back over a century to a turbulent and pivotal time in U.S. labor history.
In the 1880s, unions pushing for better workplace conditions began advocating for an eight-hour workday with widespread demonstrations and strikes. In May 1886, a Chicago labor rally turned deadly when a bomb was thrown and police retaliated with gunfire. Several labor activists, most of them immigrants, were convicted of conspiracy to incite violence among other charges. Four were hanged.
Unions later recommended that the workers be honored every May 1. A sculpture in Chicago's Haymarket Square commemorates them with an inscription that reads: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”
May Day marches, rallies and riots have taken place worldwide in recent years as unions push for better rights for workers, groups air economic grievances or activists call for an end to the war in Gaza.
While most demonstrations have been peaceful, there have been clashes with police.
Last year, police in Paris fired tear gas as thousands of protesters marched through the French capital, seeking better pay and working conditions. In New York City, May Day demonstrations coincided with rising tensions at college campuses over pro-Palestinian student encampments, resulting in numerous arrests.
This year, organizers in numerous cities, including New York, are calling for unity across many causes and groups.
“We’re organizing for a world where every family has housing, health care, fair wages, union protection, and safety — regardless of race, immigration status, or zip code,” the American Civil Liberty Union of New York said in a statement.
Other notable U.S. demonstrations include a workers rally at Philadelphia City Hall with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and demonstrations at the Colorado State Capitol and in Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That’s when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would’ve made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
Crowds for May 1 demonstrations have since dwindled with advocacy groups splintering and shifting activism arenas such as voters rights.
This year in Chicago, organizers say activism starting Thursday will last until Cinco de Mayo with boycotts and walkouts. Their focus is workers' rights but also rising anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump's administration.
Organizers acknowledge a chilling effect on immigrant communities since Trump has cracked down on enforcement, especially in so-called sanctuary cities including Chicago. They’re expecting lower numbers of immigrants but are expanding their outreach to more unions, including for teachers and nurses.
“There’s a lot fear out there,” said Omar Lopez, a longtime Chicago organizer.
In some countries, May Day is a public holiday for workers, including France, Kenya, Russia and China, where it lasts five days.
It’s also a traditional spring celebration that’s observed in ways that don’t involve marching in the streets or civil disobedience.
In Hawaii, May 1 is called Lei Day, which isn’t an official holiday, but a statewide celebration of the Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit through the creation and giving of lei — usually a necklace of flowers.
Elsewhere, people mark the holiday by leaving May Day baskets filled with gifts and flowers on the doorsteps of friends. The city of Annapolis, Maryland, is set to hold its 70th May Day Basket Competition, where residents and businesses outdo each other for the best floral arrangements.
“It’s our community’s way of saying goodbye to winter and welcoming the beauty and energy of spring,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said.
FILE - Supporters of French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon are gathered on Republique square to listen their leader during a protest over the president's labor reform, in Paris, France, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
FILE - Protesters march during the May Day demonstration, Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
FILE - More than 300,000 demonstrators march to show support for immigrant rights in Chicago, May 1, 2006. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - Participants in an immigration rights rally walk under a giant American flag during a march through downtown Chicago, May 1, 2006. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
