Early life and education
Born in Lima,Simon's family moved to the city of Chiclayo to establish a shoe retail business. After completing his early education at the Colegio Manuel Pardo,he joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo,in the city of Lambayeque,where he later was a lecturer. He married Nancy Valcárcel,a Chiclayo painter with whom he had four children:Jessica,Yehude,Yusef and Yail,also he had ten grandchildren:David,Micaela,Joaquín,Nicole,Salvador,Belén,Rafaella,Santiago,Isabella and Julián.
Political career
Early political career
Yehude Simon began his political career in 1983,when he ran for the post of Mayor of Chiclayo under the United Left,and was placed second. In the 1985 general elections,he ran in the Chamber of Deputies under the United Left,and was elected Deputy for the Lambayeque region for the 1985–1990 term,integrating the Committees on Justice and Human Rights Congress. [2]
In 1991,he founded the Free Patriotic Movement,who was accused of being the legal wing of the MRTA (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) rebel movement,famous for the 1996-97 Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima. On 5 April 1992,Simon was in Europe,participating in conferences. Upon learning of the breakdown of the constitutional President Alberto Fujimori he returned to Peru and decided to participate in the protest against the closure of the Congress of Peru.
Arrest and imprisonment
On 11 June 1992,he was arrested along with other leaders of Patria Libre,and accused of subversion. Later that year he was sentenced by the judiciary to 20 years of imprisonment for the crime of "glorification of terrorism." During his eight and a half years in prison,human rights organizations,Amnesty International,some media and some opposition Peruvian politicians demanded that the Fujimori regime to pardon him. In November 2000,during the Transitional Government headed by President Valentín Paniagua Corazao,Simon was pardoned and released by the then Minister of Justice,Diego García Sayán. He was held for 8 years and six months.
Post-imprisonment:Governor of Lambayeque
In the 2002 regional elections,Yehude Simon ran for president of the Lambayeque Regional Government and electorally defeated the Peruvian Aprista Party candidate Luis Falla,which is considered one of the most popular political parties in northern Peru. In his first four years of his regional presidency,the government carried out works focused mainly on the rural sector,among which the most notorious is the tender for the construction of the Olmos Project.
In December 2005,the Decentralist Concertation Alliance was signed between the Peruvian Humanist Movement,the Party for Social Democracy - Peru Commitment,Ayllu Self-Government and other regionalist organizations. The presidential formula was headed by Susana Villarán and she participated unsuccessfully in the presidential elections.
In the regional elections of 2006,which were held on the third Sunday of the month of November of that year;Yehude Simon ran and won the elections again,defeating the Peruvian Aprista Party (for the second time) and the Independent Solidarity Friendship Movement.
Since July 2008 he has been the president of the moderate center-left Peruvian Humanist Party.
Prime Minister of Peru
On 14 October 2008,Simon was sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers,a position akin to that of a Prime Minister,replacing Jorge del Castillo who resigned in aftermath of the Petroaudios scandal. [3] [4] [5] [6] President Alan García had appointed Simon,who is politically to the left of García,in an effort to mollify the country's poor and nationalists who are considered "hard-line leftists" by the right-wing Peruvian parties. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Resignation
In June 2009,Simon announced that he would resign as prime minister "in the coming weeks",following violence over the land rights of Amazon Indians. [8] He resigned on 10 July 2009 and was replaced on 11 July 2009 by Javier Velásquez.
Simon went on to apologize to the indigenous people,acknowledging the government had not properly consulted with the Amazon Indians prior to passing ten controversial laws,designed to ease foreign companies in the exploration of the Amazon for oil,gas and lumber. Simon pledged to work to persuade the Peruvian congress to repeal these controversial laws. Peru's indigenous leaders had launched protest strikes and blockades in April 2009;resulting in 34 persons killed,including 23 policemen;in bloody clashes between the Amazon Indians and the Peruvian police. [9] [10]
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