- George Wright
- BBC News
image copyright Reuters
Lilia Paredes was granted asylum in Mexico, but her husband remained in detention
The family of the ousted Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, left the country for Mexico, after being granted asylum there.
But President Castillo remains imprisoned in Peru.
The Peruvian Foreign Minister had earlier granted Castillo’s wife and children safe passage from the Mexican Embassy in Lima to the airport.
The Mexican ambassador, in Lima, left with them on the same plane, after the Peruvian authorities ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.
The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, on its accounts, on social media, that it had expelled the ambassador, Pablo Monroy, because of “repeated statements made by senior officials in his country about the political situation in Peru.”
Tensions between the two countries began to escalate, since the Peruvian Congress impeached President Castillo on December 7.
The overwhelming majority of deputies voted to impeach President Castillo, immediately after he declared a state of emergency, and that he would dissolve Congress.
The President of the Peruvian Constitutional Court described what President Castillo did as an “attempted coup,” which prompted Congress to impeach him immediately.
He was replaced by Vice President Dina Polwarti, who announced that the elections would be brought forward by two years, to be held in April 2024.
The deputies supported the decision to advance the date of the elections, but it should be ratified, in another recommendation, in the coming months.
It is not clear whether the decisions are sufficient to stop the violent protests, which were initiated by supporters of President Castillo, calling for his release and the organization of early elections.
In the first hours of his isolation, President Castillo tried to enter the headquarters of the Mexican Embassy, but his bodyguards prevented him from doing so, and he was taken into custody.
Castillo is currently under investigation on charges of rebellion and conspiracy.
Mexican President Andre Manuel Lopez sided with Castillo, describing his impeachment as “undemocratic”.
He instructed his ambassador to grant asylum to Castillo’s wife, Lilia Paredes, and their two sons.
This situation sparked outrage in Peru, as Paredes is under investigation for allegations of her association with a money laundering gang.
Peruvian opposition lawmaker Maria del Carmen Alva accused Mexico of harboring “corrupt people”.