Peru expels Mexican ambassador
2022.12.21 02:16
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Peru expels Mexican ambassador
Budrigannews.com – Peru’s foreign minister declared Mexico’s ambassador to Lima “persona non grata” and instructed him to leave the country on Tuesday. This is the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries following Peru’s removal of President Pedro Castillo.
The abrupt order—a severe diplomatic measure—gives Mexico’s envoy to the South American nation only 72 hours to leave.
The decision of the Peruvian government came just hours after the top diplomat of Mexico said that his country had given asylum to Castillo’s family. Castillo, who tried to pull off what critics called a coup on Dec. 7, is facing rebellion charges from behind bars.
Mexico’s president has offered fellow leftist Castillo support since his ouster by an overwhelming vote of lawmakers and his subsequent arrest. Peru’s foreign ministry posted on social media that the ejection of Mexican Ambassador Pablo Monroy was due to “repeated statements from the highest authorities of that country regarding the political situation in Peru.” This was a thinly veiled reference to the support Mexico’s president has offered Castillo.
On Tuesday night, Mexico’s foreign minister took to Twitter to criticize Monroy’s expulsion, calling it “unjustified and reprehensible.”
The removal of Castillo was harshly criticized as undemocratic last week by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who emphasized that he still recognizes Castillo as Peru’s legitimate leader.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated earlier in the day at a news conference that the government was negotiating safe passage for Castillo’s family, who were inside Mexico’s Embassy in Lima.
Later on Tuesday, Peru’s foreign minister, Ana Cecilia Gervasi, made the announcement that Castillo’s wife and their two children had been granted official safe passage.
When Lilia Paredes, Castillo’s wife, or their children will travel to Mexico, no timetable was provided by officials from Peru or Mexico.
In a joint statement last week, the governments of Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina, all of which are led by leftists, said that Castillo had been subjected to “undemocratic harassment.”
A few days later, President Dina Boluarte’s government, which had only been in office for a week and had previously held the position of vice president under Castillo, summoned Peru’s ambassadors to the country’s home country for discussions regarding what she regarded as unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of the nation.
Separately, lawmakers on Tuesday approved a crucial first step in Boluarte’s push for early elections, with 93 in favor and 30 opposed. Elections would be held two years earlier than planned in 2026 under the proposal, in April 2024.
Castillo tried to flee to the Mexican Embassy shortly after his attempt to dissolve Congress, but he was stopped by police before he could get there.
Additionally on Tuesday, a Peruvian court denied prosecutors’ request to prevent Paredes from leaving the country. She is under investigation for allegedly being a part of a network for money laundering, which could also involve Castillo.
Maria del Carmen Alva, a Peruvian opposition legislator, stated to journalists on Tuesday, “Mexico is sheltering the corrupt.”
Lopez Obrador has repeatedly stated that the non-interference in domestic affairs of other nations is a priority for his government; however, when it comes to alleged ideological allies in Latin America, he has deviated from that principle.
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After a judicial panel approved prosecutors’ request for an extension, Castillo will remain in pretrial detention for 18 months while they investigate the rebellion and conspiracy charges against the former rural teacher who won a close election last year running under the Marxist Free Peru Party banner.
