The new Peruvian President Dina Boluarte at the press conference where she spoke about relations with Mexico Paolo Aguilar (EFE)
In Peru, after Pedro Castillo’s failed self-coup, the noise from outside started to bother us. Especially Mexico, which became the focus of discussion when the former president, cornered politically, tried to take refuge in the Mexican embassy in Lima. The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Mexican Ambassador Pablo Monroy this Friday to show him “the oddness” that the statements made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard in Peru. “The statements made by the Mexican authorities constitute an interference in Peru’s internal affairs and are not consistent with the events of the past few days,” the statement said.
López Obrador has firmly shown his support for Pedro Castillo after what happened on Wednesday. The Mexican president has assured that the now-imprisoned Peruvian president was never accepted by the opposition, “particularly by the economic and political elites,” who did not allow him to carry out his project. “Ever since he won, Pedro Castillo has been the victim of harassment, confrontations, his opponents have not accepted that he governs,” he told a press conference. López Obrador also confirmed that Castillo called him to apply for asylum, but he did not reach the Mexican embassy in Lima and was arrested beforehand. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that Castillo had ratified the formal application for asylum at the Mexican embassy and would start the process.
Ebrard announced that Ambassador Monroy has visited Castillo at the prison where he is being held. The diplomat’s visit helped the former president’s attorney sign a document asking López Obrador for asylum in Mexico. The foreign minister assured that he was in talks with the Peruvian government. “We have initiated consultations with the Peruvian authorities,” Ebrard wrote on his Twitter account.
The State Department has told the Mexican ambassador that states must abide by the rules of current international treaties. Castillo remains incarcerated in the same prison where Alberto Fujimori is serving his sentence, awaiting charges against him. The former president could face the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy to attempt a coup. The idea of a possible asylum in Mexico seems far away, but López Obrador insists on the possibility.
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