Peru’s Foreign Ministry has condemned President López Obrador’s “irresponsible” rejection of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte after AMLO refused to cede Boluarte the presidency of the Pacific Alliance, which should have passed to Peru six months ago.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi criticized both AMLO and Colombian President Gustavo Petro for their continued support of ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo.
“The Peruvian Foreign Ministry expresses its categorical rejection of the recent and reiterated interventionist, irresponsible and ideological declarations of Colombia’s Mr. Petro and Mexico’s Mr López, who insist on ignoring the coup d’état perpetrated by ex-president Pedro Castillo on 7 December 2022, and the legitimate and constitutional succession of President Dina Boluarte Zegarra,” the Ministry said in a press statement.
The comments came after López Obrador again refused to hand over leadership of the Pacific Alliance trading bloc to Boluarte, accusing her of “usurping” Castillo’s position. Castillo currently has an approval rating of only around 25% amongst Peruvians.
“There are four countries [in the Pacific Alliance]: Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru,” AMLO said at his morning press conference. “The opinion of the Colombian president is similar to mine and that of the Chilean president [Gabriel Boric], as he also isn’t interested in giving Peru the presidency.”
“I would remind [Boluarte] to leave the [Peruvian] presidency to Pedro Castillo, who won in a free and democratic election, to leave the presidency because she is usurping that position and to get Pedro Castillo out of jail,” AMLO added.
“[Boluarte has] imprisoned President Castillo just because of his popular origin, and because he didn’t lend himself to the Peruvian and foreign oligarchy looting Peru as they are doing.”
AMLO first threatened to resist handing over the presidency to Boluarte in February, saying he would consult with other alliance members but that he believed giving Peru the presidency would “legitimize a coup.”
Mexico held the Alliance presidency through 2022 and was due to pass on leadership to Peru in November, but the transfer was delayed due to the constitutional crisis in Peru, which led to Castillo’s ousting in December. Castillo was arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress ahead of a vote to impeach him on corruption charges.
AMLO was an outspoken supporter of Castillo throughout the crisis, granting asylum to Castillo’s wife and children and putting diplomatic relations “on hold” with the government of incoming President Dina Boluarte.
In response, Peru expelled the Mexican ambassador in December and withdrew its own ambassador to Mexico in February.
Following AMLO’s most recent comments, Gervasi accused the Mexican president of undermining the work of the Alliance, and made an implicit threat of international legal action.
Failure to deliver the presidency could “have consequences in the international legal community,” she warned.
“The position assumed by Mr. López of not handing over the presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Peru is a manifestation of the level of negligence with which he guides his actions in the foreign sphere, which affects the successful process of integration in recent times and, even worse, the needs of its population,” she said.
“The failure of Mr. López to deliver the presidency pro tempore of the Pacific Alliance constitutes the breach of an international obligation by Mexico, which may lead to international responsibility for that State.”
