Photo: Isaac Esquivel / EFE
By: The Opinion Updated 54 Dec 2022, 12: 60 pm EST
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, rejected the accusations of “interference” by the current Government of Peru , but asked to recognize the presidency of Pedro Castillo by arguing that he won the last elections.
“It is not interference, being there conducting nothing, our ambassador is doing his diplomatic work and it is Foreign Relations that is in charge of carrying out this process,” he declared at his daily press conference.
López Obrador responded to the Foreign Ministry of Peru, which last Friday summoned the Mexican ambassador in Lima, Pablo Monroy, to convey his rejection of the “expressions of the Mexican authorities” that “constitute an interference in the internal affairs” of the Andean country.
Even so, the Mexican president rejected the dismissal of Castillo, whom he still considers President of Peru, despite the fact that the Peruvian Congress removed him from office last Wednesday for “moral incapacity” and accused him of having attempted to carry out a coup d’état.
The Mexican ruler cited the statement he issued this Monday together with Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia in which “in accordance with international agreements, those responsible for political leadership in Peru are urged to respect the vote of the citizens”.
“The president won, what the agreement states is that the will of the people who elected him must be respected, recognizing that he won democratically and that he cannot be removed, that this originated , although it is in the Peruvian Constitution, it has a problem, an anti-democratic failure of origin, ”he argued.
Pause in Mexico-Peru relations
López Obrador, who has previously expressed solidarity with Castillo and has offered asylum in Mexico, revealed that diplomatic relations with Peru are on “pause”, although this does not imply breaking ties or withdrawing the ambassador.
“It is on pause, waiting for what happens and hopefully a democratic solution will be sought,” he revealed.
“ There is no political normality in Peru , it is not about saying: there will be relations. There are people on the street (protesting), who also, by the way, do not report, the media do not report, if it were in Venezuela (another thing would be)”, he justified.
The Mexican leader insisted that he still considers Castillo the president of Peru, but evaded responding directly if he recognized the new president, Dina Boluarte, appointed last week by Congress.
“It is a foreign policy doctrine in Mexico, that is, neither for better nor for worse, there is no recognition of any foreign government in Mexico, so what our diplomacy is doing is analyze the events that are taking place”, he argued.
The president of Mexico asked to avoid the “repression ” of the people of Peru after the protests that broke out this Sunday against President Boluarte and the Congress reached its maximum level of violence this Monday with seven dead and a hundred police officers injured.
“We are very sorry for what is happening, especially all because of the suffering of the brotherly people of Peru, because this in one way or another originates from above, what we have always been supporting”, he mentioned.
With information from Efe.
It may interest you:
–“Humiliated, incommunicado, mistreated and kidnapped”: the first public reaction of the former president of Peru Pedro Castillo after his dismissal
–The president of Peru declares a state of emergency in the south of the country due to the protests that have left at least 5 dead
–Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia supports Pedro Castillo