Mexico confirms contacts with Peru for asylum to Pedro Castillo

Mexico has started consultations with the Peruvian authorities on the asylum request of the now ex-president of the South American country, Pedro Castillo. The information was provided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, this Thursday (8).

According to him, the Mexican ambassador in Peru managed to meet with Castillo where the Peruvian leader is being held, in Lima. “He found him well physically and in the company of his lawyer,” wrote the Mexican foreign minister on his Twitter account.

The Peruvian’s defense is now led by the country’s former prime minister, Aníbal Torres – one of the protagonists of the country’s current political crisis. He, by the way, wrote a letter to the Mexican government, accusing the Peruvian Justice of “unfounded persecution” and of conducting the process with a “political character”.

According to the Mexican newspaper El Unviersal, the ambassador arrived at the headquarters of the Directorate of Special Operations (Diroes) –where the Peruvian is being held– in a diplomatic vehicle, parked for a few moments to arrange his entrance and quickly entered.

After declaring the dismissal of Parliament and, minutes later, seeing his action considered a coup d’état by the country’s Justice and Armed Forces, Castillo tried to flee to the Mexican embassy, ​​where he would possibly ask for asylum.

The route, however, was interrupted after the General Commander and the Chief of Staff of the Peruvian National Police called the president’s own security team and ordered the driver of the van carrying the Peruvian leader to deviate from the planned route. Castillo was then taken to the city hall of Lima, where he was placed in the custody of the Federal Police.

On Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador said he received a call from Castillo before the Peruvian was arrested. “He told me he was on his way to the embassy, ​​but surely they had already tapped his phone,” said the Mexican in an interview.

Earlier, in a radio interview, Ebrard said that his country would have granted political asylum to Castillo if the Peruvian had asked for it.

In 2019, Mexico gave asylum to the former president of Bolivia Evo Morales, also from the left. At the time, the Bolivian had just resigned from power after pressure from the Armed Forces and protests in the streets, which accused him of having committed electoral fraud.

Interestingly, Morales’ plane had to divert from countries like Peru and Ecuador, which did not authorize the passage of the aircraft. The two nations, however, changed their minds when Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay gave the Bolivian the green light. At the time, Peru was governed by Martín Vizcarra, who, like Castillo, failed to fulfill his entire mandate.