CNN
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Peru ordered the Mexican ambassador to leave the Andean country within 72 hours, calling him a “persona non grata,” according to the foreign ministry on Tuesday, after the exiled president’s family was granted asylum by the Mexican government. ” he declared.
The ministry said the decision came after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the political situation in Peru “constitutes unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Peru and clearly violates the principle of non-interference”. said it was done.
This comes after Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he had offered asylum to the family of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who are already at the Mexican embassy in the capital, Lima.
Ebrardo did not specify which members of Castillo’s family were among the diplomatic mission, but Peruvian Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi Diaz said Tuesday that Castillo’s family, especially his wife and children, will be leaving the country. He said he would be given a safe passage.
Castillo, a former teacher and union leader from rural Peru, was impeached and removed from office almost two weeks ago after attempting to dissolve parliament and install an emergency government.
Prosecutors said he was detained en route to the Mexican embassy in Lima. He has now been in “preventive detention” for 18 months on charges of mutiny and conspiracy, which he denies.
Mexican President Lopez Obrador He was critical of Castillo’s impeachment and said Peruvians were victims of “harassment” from “his opponents, particularly the country’s economic and political elite”.
In a joint statement last week, the governments of Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia said Castillo had been a victim of “undemocratic harassment” since last year’s election, urging Peru to respect the results of last year’s presidential election. and expressed concern over the fate of Castillo. vote.
Castillo’s wife, Lilia Paredes, is under investigation for allegedly coordinating a criminal network led by Castillo. Her former attorney, Benji Espinoza, stressed her innocence and claimed her investigation into Paredes contained “many flaws and omissions.”
CNN has reached out to the Castillo family’s new legal representative for comment.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has fought to contain widespread protests over Castillo’s impeachment since she became the country’s first female leader. Boruarte hinted at the possibility of early elections, but Defense Minister Luis Alberto Otarola declared a state of emergency and deployed troops to the streets.
About 26 people have died in the violence, according to Peruvian Health Ministry data on Monday. Many come from the rural and mostly indigenous areas of Ayacucho in the south of the country. According to Reuters.
And despite calls for early presidential and legislative elections, the country remains at a standstill after Congress last week rejected the constitutional amendments needed to hold early votes in 2023.
Peru’s politics have been dysfunctional for years, and Boruarte is the country’s sixth president since 2018.
Castillo, who had never held any public office before becoming president, campaigned on promises to redistribute wealth and elevate the country’s poorest.
However, his government was in turmoil, with dozens of ministers appointed, replaced, dismissed or resigned in just over a year. Castillo himself faced multiple corruption investigations and failed in his two impeachment attempts before being ousted.
