First modification:
Peru and Mexico are in the midst of a diplomatic crisis after the Andean country declared the Mexican ambassador in Lima “persona non grata” due to bilateral tensions over the removal of former President Pedro Castillo and the asylum granted by the Mexican authorities.
Peru granted permission on December 20 for the family of ousted President Pedro Castillo to go to Mexico for asylum, but declared the ambassador of that country “persona non grata” and asked him to leave, considering that his government interfered in matters internal. Peru accuses Mexico of meddling in the political crisis unleashed by the removal of former President Pedro Castillo. Meanwhile, Mexico defends its right to grant political asylum, a tradition of decades.
“Mexico acts legally”
However, the comments of Andrés Manuel López Obrador have not gone down very well in Lima: “We know how to distinguish very well what the people of Peru are, which is a sister nation, and the attitude of the so-called political class, of the groups of economic and political power, which are the ones that have maintained this crisis”, said the Mexican president.
So why has this diplomatic crisis broken out between two countries that until recently had very good bilateral relations? “Mexico acts legally, legally, offering political asylum. The unfortunate thing is that political sensitivities are on the surface and that is generating a bilateral crisis. Diplomacy cannot be subject to these pulses that come from the presidents in office and that, rather than contributing to the resolution of controversies, deepen them”, estimates Juan Pablo Prado Lallande, professor and researcher on International Relations at the Autonomous University of Puebla.
Among the most recent leaders who received asylum is the Bolivian Evo Morales, but previously the Cuban Fidel Castro, the Russian revolutionary León Trotski, the Shah of Iran or the Spanish Republican exiles also had it.
A “smart foreign policy instrument”
Mexico uses political asylum as a tool to weigh internationally: “León Trotski at the time and other personalities, hundreds of Spanish children during the Civil War from 1936 to 1939, just received that status. It is an act, then, that has had significant returns. In other words, it is an intelligent foreign policy instrument whose purpose is also to promote Mexican interest in allied countries. For example, with the Spanish case. It is difficult for Spain and consequently the Schengen countries to require visas from Mexicans”, explains Juan Pablo Prado.
It remains to be seen how this crisis will affect one of the integration blocs, if not the only one, that more or less works well in the region: the Pacific Alliance, of which Mexico and Peru are members. In any case, Mexico ruled out breaking diplomatic relations with Peru: “We are not going to expel anyone, we have not done it and it will not be done,” said AMLO.
López Obrador has been one of the staunchest defenders of Pedro Castillo, and defended him again this Wednesday, maintaining that he was elected by the Peruvians and accusing the government of that country of repressing the protesters.
In addition to Mexico, the governments of Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia had also shown their support for Castillo. This led Peru to call its ambassadors in those four countries for consultation.
Boluarte seeks to get out of the crisis
The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, renewed part of her cabinet on Wednesday. As president of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) the lawyer Alberto Otárola took over in place of Pedro Angulo. This is the second chief of staff in two weeks of Boluarte’s administration and the seventh in a year and a half.
Until now, Otárola had been the head of Defense and was one of the visible heads of the government to face the crisis generated after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo with a strong hand.
In an attempt to mitigate the crisis, Parliament approved Tuesday to advance the 2026 general elections to April 2024. Boluarte must hand over command to his successor in July of that year. “The confrontation and polarization did a lot of damage to the country, we need to turn this page to dedicate ourselves to work,” said the president this Wednesday, during a police ceremony.
