The Congress of Peru declared a person not grateful to the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, for her “unacceptable interference in internal affairs.”
The plenary session approved this motion with 63 votes in favor, 34 against and 2 abstentions, this, after the Mexican government admitted the request of former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez to receive asylum, in the midst of the trial she faces for the coup d’état of Pedro Castillo.
In addition to interference, the Peruvian Congress criticized what it called an offense to the “national democratic system” due to Sheinbaum’s actions.
In the debate in the plenary session of Congress, María del Carmen Alva, from the Popular Action party, supported the motion as one of the authors by highlighting on several occasions that Claudia Sheinbaum has been declaring from Mexico her support for Pedro Castillo despite the 2022 coup d’état, just as former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador did previously.
“Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress, break democracy and violate the Constitution. That is why he was dismissed as appropriate in a country that respects the rule of law, but President Sheinbaum goes further. She announced her willingness to give political asylum to Betssy Chávez, prosecuted for participating in that same coup d’état. Is that solidarity? No. That is a cover-up, it is openly interfering in a Peruvian judicial process and ignoring the principle of non-intervention that governs relations between both states,” said Alva.
Just on Monday, the Government of President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Betssy Chávez was in its embassy in Lima and that it had granted her political asylum from the trial for the frustrated coup d’état, with requests for sentences by the Prosecutor’s Office of 34 years in prison for the former president and 25 years for the former prime minister.
This led the Peruvian Government to announce on Monday that it was breaking diplomatic relations with Mexico, which had already been operating without ambassadors since the beginning of 2023 as Mexico did not recognize the legitimacy of the Government of President Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo after his arrest and dismissal.
The Government of President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that Betssy Chávez was in its embassy in Lima and that it had granted her political asylum from the trial for the frustrated coup d’état, with requests for sentences by the Prosecutor’s Office of 34 years in prison for the former president and 25 years for the former prime minister.
This led the Peruvian Government to announce on Monday that it was breaking diplomatic relations with Mexico, which had already been operating without ambassadors since the beginning of 2023 as Mexico did not recognize the legitimacy of the Government of President Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo after his arrest and dismissal.
The Government of Mexico rejected Peru’s decision on Tuesday to break diplomatic relations after the Mexican embassy in that country granted political asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, an ally of former President Pedro Castillo, prosecuted alongside him for the failed coup attempt at the end of 2022.
“We reject the decision made by the government of Peru to break diplomatic relations with Mexico, but not consular relations, because we are acting peacefully, with a humanitarian sense and in strict accordance with international law,” said the undersecretary for North America, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, during a presidential press conference.
Velasco explained that the asylum was granted after a joint evaluation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), in accordance with the Mexican Constitution and current international treaties.
“It was decided to grant asylum to Mrs. Chávez, as already mentioned, because she has mentioned that she has been a victim of violations of her procedural rights and political persecution,” he said.
The official recalled that Mexico invoked the Caracas Convention on Political Asylum, which establishes that it is up to the asylum State “to classify the nature of the crime or the reasons for the persecution.”
In addition, he cited a 1967 UN resolution that states that “the granting of political asylum will never be considered an unfriendly act.”
With information from EFE.
Follow information about business and current events in Forbes Mexico
Do you like to get informed through Google News? Follow our Showcase to have the best stories
