Peru summons ambassador and criticizes Mexico’s ‘interference’ in Castillo

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru summoned, this Friday (9), the ambassador of Mexico after the president of the North American country, Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador, defended the now former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, arrested for trying to coup d’etat.

In practice, summoning an ambassador is an act of reprimand. According to the portfolio, the statements by the Mexican leader and other authorities constitute “interference in Peru’s internal affairs”.

On Thursday, AMLO, as the Mexican president is known, said that Castillo has been the victim of harassment since he won the election in June 2021. Still according to him, the Peruvian’s political opponents “did not accept that he governed”.

Obrador also said that his country would wait a few days to recognize Dina Boluarte as president of Peru – a former vice president, she was sworn in as chief executive by parliament shortly after Castillo failed in his coup attempt.

Mexico, in a way, is linked to the country’s current political crisis. This is because, after announcing the dismissal of Parliament, Castillo tried to flee to the embassy of the North American country, where he would seek asylum.

His journey, however, was interrupted after 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 police custody.

On Thursday, the Mexican ambassador to Peru managed to meet with Castillo at the center where the Peruvian is being held. The Mexican government also says it has begun consultations with authorities in Lima over Castillo’s asylum application.

On another front of the political crisis, Dina said this Friday that she is willing to discuss early elections with the country’s society, but has ruled out for the time being the beginning of constitutional changes – a demand from leftist parties. The statement came as hundreds of farmers blocked a stretch of Peru’s main coastal highway, demanding early elections.

“If society and the situation justify bringing the elections forward, then, in conversation with the democratic and political forces in Congress, we will sit down and talk,” she told reporters. “I didn’t cause this situation, I’m just fulfilling the constitutional role,” she added.

Later, the now president said she had received a call from her Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández. “He expressed his support and collaboration in strengthening our democracy,” she wrote on Twitter.

Finally, Boluarte said he plans to visit Castillo in prison, adding that the coup surprised everyone, including the former president’s ministers.

Castillo, incidentally, is still being held at the headquarters of the Special Operations Directorate. On Thursday, Justice ordered him to be held in preventive custody for at least a week. The Public Ministry fears that an eventual release of the ex-president could hinder the investigations.

At the same time, this Friday, a former chief of staff for Castillo said he visited the former Peruvian leader in jail and found that he may have been induced to dissolve Congress. “I asked, ‘Why did you do the reading?’ (of the decree that dissolved Congress). He replied that he didn’t remember”, Guido Bellido told the press.

Bellido also questioned Castillo’s mental condition and asked authorities to arrange a drug test on the left-winger.

The version that Castillo acted under the influence of some substance was also considered by Guillermo Olivera, one of his lawyers. “Everyone saw that he was shakily reading, and I assume he was also a little sedated,” concluded the lawyer.

In the broadcast of Castillo’s speech, it is possible to see that the pages that the then Peruvian president was holding were shaking. From the angle, however, it is not possible to know if the movement was the result of wind or if the Peruvian, in fact, was shaking.