The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said on Friday that he refuses to transfer the pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Peru because he considers that there is a “spurious government” in the Andean nation, and announced that he would consult the other members of the group what to do with this transfer of powers.
The Mexican ruler has been one of the most critical in the region regarding the dismissal in December of the Peruvian president Pedro Castilloto whose family he later offered asylum, causing a diplomatic crisis that led Lima to expel the US ambassador to Peru.
“I am going to instruct the Secretary of Foreign Relations to notify the members (…) what we do because I do not want to hand over (the presidency) to a government that I consider spurious,” said López Obrador, known by the acronym AMLO, in his daily press conference.
The president explained his position when asked about recent statements by Castillo’s successor, Dina Boluarte, who on Wednesday demanded the transfer of leadership of the Pacific Alliance, also made up of Chile and Colombia.
“We are going to notify them to see what their opinion is, if they say ‘hand over the presidency’, we will do it,” added AMLO, reiterating that he does not want to do it because he refuses to “legitimize a coup.”
The Pacific alliance It is a mechanism for economic and commercial integration based on the free movement of goods, services and capital, and which targets Asian markets.
With more than 230 million people, it is considered the eighth largest economy in the world and represents 41% of the Gross Domestic Product of Latin America and the Caribbean.
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