The Peruvian government reported Wednesday afternoon that “the uneasiness” expressed by the “disrespectful manner” in which Chilean President Gabriel Boric referred to the Peruvian prime minister in his speech at the Celac summit on Tuesday was spreading to neighboring Chile have Buenos Aires. According to the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Twitter, Deputy Foreign Minister Ignacio Higueras did so in front of the Chilean Ambassador to Peru. “He told him that the path taken by President Boluarte’s constitutional government is to move forward with general elections so that Peruvians can decide Peru’s fate without interference and in peace. The government will not change the course of democratic institutions,” the Peruvian Foreign Ministry added.
In his speech at the Buenos Aires Summit, President Boric referred directly to the internal situation in Peru, a country with which relations are particularly well maintained due to its historical complexity. “We cannot be indifferent when today in our sister republic of Peru, with the government under the command of Dina Boluarte, people who take to the streets to demand what they think is fair are shot by those who defend them should. More than 50 people have lost their lives and that should shock us,” said the left-wing president on Tuesday, who will celebrate his first year in power next March. Boric, 36, who rose to leadership status as a college student in 2011, referred to what happened at the University of San Marcos this week. “It is also unacceptable that the universities of America are recreating the sad scenes of the days of the South Cone dictatorships, as happened recently with the police incursion into the University of San Marcos. In the face of these crimes, I reiterate Chile’s readiness to contribute in all multilateral spaces to accompany an inclusive dialogue capable of building democratic governance and ensuring respect for human rights,” added Boric.
Speech by Gabriel Boric at CELAC.
In his speech, the Chilean President called on the Boluarte government to reverse the trend. “Today, with the same clarity with which we have always supported the constitutional processes in our region, we point out the urgent need for a change of course in Peru, because the balance left by the path of repression and violence is unsustainable those of us who – and I have no doubt that will is the overwhelming majority here in Celac – defending democracy and human rights,” Boric said as Chile sought a second constitutional referendum after a failed attempt between the 2019 social outburst and the 2019 referendum on September 4, in which 62% of voters rejected the government-backed proposal for a constitutional convention.
Peru’s Foreign Minister herself, Ana Cecilia Gervasi, referred to Boric’s words in her speech at the regional summit after that of the Chilean President. Gervasi accused it of trying to “establish a distorted narrative that is inconsistent with the objective facts” and called for adherence to the principles of non-interference and non-interference in countries’ internal affairs. The Peruvian foreign minister regretted that “some governments from particularly close countries have not accompanied Peru in this difficult institutional situation and have rather prioritized ideological affinity over unequivocal support for the rule of law and constitutional succession”. Gervasi added before Celac that “it is wrong and offensive to insinuate, as already mentioned, that the government authorized the violent repression of those who protest.” “In this forum, I reaffirm our commitment to upholding democratic values and principles and to the full and unrestricted application of human rights and the rule of law,” said the Chancellor on Tuesday.
These were difficult times for Chile’s foreign relations with neighboring countries. A tone released by the Foreign Ministry, apparently in error, made public a private meeting between Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola and a team of close associates. In this file, Urrejola can be heard making harsh references to Argentina’s Ambassador to Chile, Rafael Bielsa. “He says what he wants when he feels like it, and the explanation is that he’s crazy?” the Chancellor once said of the Argentine representative. The episode happened right at the time when both Boric and the minister were attending the Celac summit, leaving both in an awkward position, although it was Alberto Fernández himself who downplayed the incident: “Argentina and Chile will continue to work together, how we worked in this meeting and we will continue to grow together. The rest is gossip and abuse of private conversations. I have the utmost respect for the Chilean chancellor,” said the Argentinian host.
In Chile, however, the audio incident is not over yet. Alongside the dismissal of the ministry’s communications chief, the Foreign Ministry said today that the minister had “filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office and requested the opening of an administrative file” to clarify the matter and identify possible responsibilities.
Because the president is unpopular (26% agree and 58% disagree, according to a recent Data Influye poll), his pronouncements on Peru have been hotly debated in Chile. For political journalist Ascanio Cavallo, expert on foreign relations, his statements are much more serious than the audio episode. “The President made a completely childish statement. He devotes himself to criticizing the Peruvian police without considering that there is a really serious situation of instability in Peru. For a president of a neighboring country to fail to take into account this framework and the political process that seeks to restore order is neither relevant nor intelligent. I don’t remember a neighboring country ruling over Chilean police in October and November 2019, in the days of the social outburst, the analyst assured this afternoon.