The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru spoke before the joint statement of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Argentina regarding the situation of the country and in which they consider Pedro Castillo President of the Republicwho they say has been “the victim of undemocratic harassment.”
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The text points out that “the decisions contrary to the constitutional and democratic order adopted by former President Pedro Castillo Terrones on December 7” generated the decision of Congress “to declare his vacancy in the strictest respect for the Political Constitution of Peru” .
Foreign Relations points out that, given this scenario, and in accordance “with the provisions of Article 115 of the Political Constitution of Peru, Vice President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra assumed the Presidency of the Republic.”
In the joint statement, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Argentina assure that the ex-president is “the object of judicial treatment […] violative” and asked that the “citizen will” expressed at the polls by the Peruvian people be respected.
In this regard, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry indicated that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recognized, in its statement of December 8, “…the immediate action of the institutions of Peru in defense of democracy to avoid the realization of the institutional breakdown” and reaffirmed ” that it must be protected by the validity of the rule of law”.
Likewise, it indicates that in response to the existing consensus in Peru, “President Boluarte has presented a bill to the Congress of the Republic to advance the general elections, requesting that they be held in April 2024.”
“The Government of Peru reaffirms its conviction in the importance of complying with the international obligations established in the Inter-American System and in particular in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and that the decisions that the powers of the State have been adopting to safeguard the institutional framework are respected. democracy and the rule of law in Peru,” the statement said.
“The Government of Peru reiterates its firm commitment to full respect for the human rights of all people in its territory, including those of former President Castillo, and will persist in safeguarding democratic institutions and the rule of law in the country,” it added. .
Hard editorial of ‘El Comercio’
The rejection of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry also reached the local press. The newspaper ‘El Comercio’, the most important in that country, published a hard editorial against the position of the governments of Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina, entitled ‘Defenders of a coup plotter’.
What they ask is that Peruvians cover our eyes
The outlet points out that this position belongs to “those who have served and continue to serve as sad troupes of the most ephemeral dictator in the history of our Republic.” And he added: “The governments of Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Argentina released a joint statement that seems to have been written by an acolyte of the former president and that shows, at best, a complete disconnection from reality and, at worst, a rude manipulation of it”.
The editorial assures that the statement published by the governments has fallacies, such as “suggesting that in our country the will of the citizens expressed at the polls in the 2021 elections is not being respected.” And that “nowhere in the document is the blow that the ex-president gave to Peruvian democracy with a view to destroying it, as if it had not existed or as if they were trying to pretend they did not see it or do not consider it something serious. An attitude that in our language is perfectly defined with one word: cynical”.
‘El Comercio’ calls the request from Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina “blatant” and “shameful”. “What they ask is that Peruvians cover our eyes before what was a deliberate attempt to destroy democracy in our country for the sake of ‘prioritizing’ a twisted and whimsical notion of ‘popular will’ above what our laws dictate. A request that is not only shameless (which deserves a forceful and rapid response from our Foreign Ministry, which has remained silent until now), but also manifestly anti-democratic and that paints those who endorsed it in full.”
And he concludes: “This should serve as a warning to the citizens of those sister countriessince it is not an exaggeration to say that, placed in a similar situation, those who have been acting as open defenders of a coup plotter, would very likely act as the one with whom they stand in solidarity today”.
WEATHER EDITORIAL