The Government of the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has asked the Organization of American States (OAS) to intervene in the face of the political and institutional crisis that the country is going through with successive clashes between the different powers of State, a request that was approved by the Permanent Council.
In his presentation before the hemispheric organization, meeting at its headquarters in Washington DC to address the situation, Peruvian Foreign Minister Cesar Landa said that “there is a situation that, if not corrected in time, could cause the democratic order to erode, the State of law and the legitimate exercise of power in Peru.
For this reason, the South American country has asked the OAS to send a Special Mission to delve into a crisis that in just over a year after the start of the term of President Pedro Castillo, 15 impeachment petitions have been added with attempts to apply the 3 regulations mandated by the Constitution, without success.
At the same time, other battle fronts arise between high figures and institutions of the country called to maintain the balance of powers and constitutional controls.
“The government of Peru considers that sending a mission made up of various representatives that make up the OAS is essential to take a neutral, but independent look at the current situation in Peru and expresses its agreement for said visit,” said the foreign minister. Landa through a video presentation.
Delegations from the governments of the region endorsed Peru’s request and reiterated “support” for being a request made by the country to guarantee the rule of law.
Some ambassadors, including the representative of Colombia, Luis Ernesto Vargas, said that the situation in the country shows a “threat” to the democratic systems in the region.
Peru’s ambassador to the OAS, Harold Forsyth, read the resolution approved unanimously by the members of the organization to “preserve democracy” in Peru “and design a high-level group of member states” to analyze the situation and report to the Permanent Council.
IACHR warns of risk to democratic institutions
For its part, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an entity attached to the OAS, presented this Thursday a report on a technical visit carried out by members of the Commission that “observes risks to the democratic institutions” of the South American country.
The delegation headed by the vice president of the IACHR, Stuardo Ralón, held meetings with representatives of different State institutions between October 10 and 13, also with civil society organizations and those affected by human rights violations.
Ralón also presented this afternoon the observations of the Commission’s visit to the Permanent Council.
The Washington DC-based body has found that at least three aspects exacerbate the institutional crisis that has deepened in recent years, with successive turmoil with deposed presidents and three dismissed parliaments, from 2016 to the present.
“One of these is the repeated use of 3 constitutional figures that have the potential to weaken the separation and balance of powers, and to paralyze the governability of the country, due to its lack of objective definition,” the IACHR reasons.
And he adds that the figures in question are: the constitutional accusation; the presidential vacancy due to permanent moral incapacity; and the dissolution of Congress due to the denial of trust to two councils of ministers.
The Commission has warned that all the parties must find a joint solution to delimit the scope of each one, because “the activation of these figures confirms a strong and constant confrontation”, for which “a democratic solution must be found”.
“Right now, Peru is experiencing a scenario of a constitutional crisis due to unprecedented events that have occurred in recent weeks, among which the constitutional complaint of the Attorney General against the President of the Republic before the Congress of the Republic stands out. , as well as the constitutional accusation against the Attorney General before the Legislative Power”, deepened the IACHR.
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