Valentin Paniagua, 1936-2006

The Llama is sad to report the death of Valentin Paniagua, the former President of Peru who led the country back to democracy after a decade of increasingly corrupt rule under Alberto Fujimori. He was only in office for eight months, but the honesty and transparency with which he conducted his administration set a high standard for subsequent governments.

I actually had the chance to get to know Paniagua a couple years ago. In college, I was part of a group called HACIA Democracy that, in addition to running a model OAS conference in Central America, brought politicians and other prominent Latin American speakers directly to campus. One winter morning in early 2002, a classmate and I were charged with picking up Paniagua from Logan Airport and taking him to his guest room on the Harvard campus.

I could tell straight away that he was a quality guy when, faced with the sight of two college students who clearly had no idea how to tie their ties--let alone what to do/say/bring when one greets a former head of state--he just smiled and said he was happy to see us. We took him home in a Yellow Cab.

Throughout his visit--including a dinner and question and answer session with HACIA folks--he was exceedingly understated, yet still quite dignified and direct. I don't remember exactly what he said when I asked him about Lori Berenson, but I remember thinking that it was all eminently reasonable, how silly of me to question such a thing, etc. etc. And even though he called me "Arturo" when he said goodbye a day or two later--he probably never knew my name to begin with--it was a privilege to know him.