Lilia Paredes, wife of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, left Peru early Wednesday morning for Mexico, which granted her political asylum, accompanied by the country’s ambassador, Pablo Monroy, expelled by the new Peruvian government.
According to images released by various local media, Paredes left at dawn for the Jorge Chávez airport, on the outskirts of Lima, accompanied by her minor children, Arnold and Alondra.
On Tuesday, the Peruvian government declared Monroy ‘persona non grata’ and gave him 72 hours to leave the country, in response to what it considers “interference” by Mexican “high authorities”, and granted a rescue conduit. to the family of the former president, after the granting of political asylum by Mexico.
Canal N reported that the delegation left the residence of the Mexican ambassador in Lima under escort and upon arrival at the Paredes airport they were reportedly insulted by some passengers.
The Peruvian Foreign Minister, Ana Gervasí Díaz, confirmed these decisions on Tuesday and said that Paredes is being investigated for a common crime “and that there is no” political persecution in Peru, where the rule of law and the separation of powers prevail. .
The Mexican Executive had already advised its ambassador in Lima to return to the country to guarantee his safety, while the head of diplomacy, Marcelo Ebrard, considered the Peruvian decision “unfounded and irresponsible”, noting that Pablo Monroy’s conduct “always has been based on the law and on the principle of non-intervention”, a position that Mexico “will not change”.
The decision to expel Ambassador Monroy came hours after Mexico announced that it was granting political asylum to the family of Pedro Castillo, who was ousted on December 7 after trying to dissolve Congress, call elections for a constituent assembly and reorganize the system. court in Mexico, an Andean nation.
Last week, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia issued a joint statement in which they considered that Castillo has been the victim of political “harassment” since he took power in 2021, and urged the new Peruvian government to “refrain from reversing the popular will”. will” expressed in the ballot box.
The government of the recently appointed president, Dina Boluarte, immediately rejected this position and summoned the ambassadors of these countries for “interference in internal affairs.”
At least 26 people died and hundreds were injured and detained in the course of the protests that continue throughout the country against the removal of Castillo, particularly in the poorest Andean areas, and violently repressed by the army and the police.
Despite one of the popular demands focused on the immediate call for elections for a constituent assembly and the release of Castillo, sentenced to 18 months of “preventive prison”, the Peruvian Congress approved this Tuesday the holding of general elections for April 2024 .
The approved text states that “the President of the Republic, currently in office, calls general elections, which will be held in April 2024. Her term ends on July 28, 2024.”
Peru is going through a political and social crisis due to the demonstrations that have shaken the country since the removal of former president Pedro Castillo, on December 7, who sought to dissolve parliament to convene a constituent assembly, create an emergency government and govern by decree ., which was interpreted as an attempted coup.
After the arrest of Castillo, who will remain in pretrial detention ordered by a court for 18 months, power passed to the vice president, Dina Boluarte, but the protests and demonstrations continued to claim 26 lives, which led the new government to decree a state of emergency. at the national level.
Unrest in the country forced the closure of airports, stranding thousands of tourists, including Portuguese, in Peru.
Source: TSF
