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The former Peruvian president was removed by Congress after his attempt to dissolve him, and now, while he is deprived of liberty, his family found the option to receive refuge in Mexico. The current government accused some countries in the region of “unacceptable interference” for supporting Castillo, while the death toll from the protests continues to rise. In other news, the Peruvian Legislature approved the project to advance the elections to 2024, a decision that will have to be endorsed by the next legislature.
The names of the relatives of the former Peruvian president who were granted political asylum in Mexico are not yet known; However, the authorities of that country assure that “the asylum has already been granted because they are in Mexican territory, that is, they are in our embassy” in Peru.
Statements that were heard at the morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who also explained that “what is being negotiated now is the safe-conduct so that if they want to leave they can do so and come to Mexico if so they want it”.
Hours after the announcement, it was confirmed that the family of the deposed president was indeed covered by the measure.
Thus, Castillo’s relatives, who are at the Mexican embassy in Peru, located in the San Isidro district of Lima, are protected by a decision that the Mexican government claims was “sovereign” and “independent.”
The news breaks the uncertainty about the whereabouts of Pedro Castillo’s relatives. On December 7, the former president was arrested after the announcement to dissolve Congress, a move described by some of his ministers, congressmen and part of the local press as a “coup d’état”.
The external “interference” that annoys the Peruvian government
Just the same day that Mexico’s decision with the family of the ousted president is known, the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Ana Cecilia Gervasi, pointed out that a group of countries have committed “unacceptable interference” in the internal affairs of the country and have a speech “detached from reality”
“The governments of Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia expressed their deep concern on Monday over the recent events that resulted in the removal and detention of José Pedro Castillo”, whom they still consider to be the president of Peru and who they see as a “victim of a undemocratic harassment,” Gervasi said.
And it is that since last Thursday, December 15, the Peruvian Government announced that it would call its ambassadors in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Bolivia for consultation due to their behaviors considered as “interference in their internal proceedings” when questioning the dismissal of Castillo and the assumption of Boluarte.
“In the same way that Peru demands respect and non-interference in its internal affairs, it will continue to be faithful to its tradition as a country committed to the full validity of International Law and to compliance with its international obligations under the leadership of the Constitutional President of the Republic Dina Boluarte,” said the Peruvian Foreign Minister.
The number of fatalities in the protests rises
Four days after his arrest, those loyal to Pedro Castillo took to the streets to demand his release and in rejection of the assumption of Dina Boluarte and have shouted in the main cities the adjectives “traitor” or “usurper”, which he himself Castillo mentioned from prison to refer to the current president.
Most of the 26 deceased are in the south of the country, where the former president has had more support.
According to the Peruvian Ministry of Health, nine people died in Ayacucho, six in Apurímac, three in Cuzco, Junín and La Libertad, and two in Arequipa.
With EFE and local media
