The Peruvian President In Boluarteannounced this Friday the “definitive withdrawal” of the ambassador of Peru to Mexicopointing out that the Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with his permanent support to the deposed Pedro castillo “violates the principle of non-interference in internal affairs of Peru.”
Boluarte’s announcement, made in a televised message to the country, came a few hours after López Obrador described Boluarte as a “spurious” and reiterated that “Mexico is going to continue supporting the president (Castillo) unjustly and illegally removed.”
“I strongly reject the expressions made today by the President of Mexico regarding the internal affairs of Peru, and the unacceptable questions that he repeatedly formulates about the constitutional and democratic origin of my government,” Boluarte said in her television message, flanked by her chief of staff. cabinet, Alberto Otárola and the Peruvian foreign minister, Ana Cecilia Gervasi.
López Obrador had told the press in his country this Friday that both President Boluarte and Congress “They have a disapproval of between 85% and 90% in polls, and even so they rule with bayonets and with repression, with force, more than 60 have already been killed.”
The retirement of the ambassador of Lima in Mexico City, Manuel Talavera Espinar This means that “diplomatic relations between Peru and Mexico are formally at the level of charge d’affaires,” said the Peruvian president.
“López Obrador supports Castillo’s coup”
Boluarte maintained in his message that López Obrador “has decided to support the coup d’état carried out by the now former president Pedro Castillo on December 7, 2022”, of which he said generated the “unanimous rejection of the institutions that make up the democratic order in Peru” and motivated the constitutional dismissal of Castillo by the Peruvian Congress.
Castillo, a left-wing schoolteacher, has been detained in Peru since December 7, accused of rebellion after he tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. For this reason, he risks sentences that could reach 20 years in prison.
The former Peruvian president was arrested by the Peruvian police in his caravan when he was going with his wife and children to the Mexican embassy in Lima. The then first lady, Lilia Paredes, did manage to enter the diplomatic delegation with her children, and she later moved to Mexican territory.
This Thursday Paredes was received by López Obrador, and of the meeting the president said that “I hugged her and expressed my solidarity with the people of Peru, especially with the humble, poor, indigenous, humiliated people.”
According to the Mexican head of state “Unfortunately there is a lot of racism and classism, and many vested interests in Peru” of a part of the political class, in which he placed Boluarte.
Boluarte’s message to the country
In his televised statement, Boluarte stated that “Mr. López has decided to seriously affect the bicentennial relations of mutual respect, friendship, cooperation, and the desire for integration that have historically united Peru and Mexico, by favoring ideological affinities.”
The withdrawal of Lima’s representative in Mexico further escalates the crisis between the two governments since Boluarte took power. The last episode had occurred last week, when the Peruvian president accused her Mexican counterpart of nrefuse to hand over the rotating presidency of the Pacific Alliance. To this, Mexico responded that it would consult with the Rio group.
Previously, a couple of weeks after the fall of Castillo, Peru had decided to expel the Mexican ambassador in Lima, Pablo Monroy, coinciding with the approval of asylum for the Castillo family. Peru then justified the decision due to “the repeated expressions” of Mexico “on the political situation of Peru that constitute interference in our internal affairs.”
Paredes and former President Castillo are being investigated by the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly leading a network of corruption in power. In addition to Mexico, other leftist governments in the region have supported Castillo and had friction with the Peruvian Executive.
Last week the Peruvian Congress declared Colombian President Gustavo Petro “persona non grata” after he said there were similarities between Peruvian police and Nazi troops. Added to this was Boluarte, who recommended that Petro “govern Colombia, since his streets are also filling up with protests.”
Castillo’s dismissal unleashed a wave of protests for two months and has plunged the country into a political crisis, with the deaths of at least 48 civilians in clashes with security forces, and more than a thousand injured.
AFP/HB
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