Frictions between Mexico and Peru continue to worsen. Relations were officially broken off at the beginning of November, due to diplomatic asylum granted by the Mexican government to Betsy Chavez, former Prime Minister Pedro Castillo, accused of complicity in the alleged self-coup of 2022. Tensions have now risen after Peru’s president, José Giri, raised the possibility of police entering the Mexican embassy to arrest Chavez. Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, warned on Monday that this would represent a “violation of her country’s sovereignty” and “would violate all international laws.” Sheinbaum, declared by the Peruvian Congress Undesirable character Because of his “interference in the internal affairs” of the Andean state, he defended that the diplomatic protection granted to Chavez “is an asylum right within the framework of international relations and its laws, and the violation would be very serious,” he noted at a press conference at the National Palace.
In a press interview commerceJerry left the door open to storm the Mexican embassy in Peru, where Chavez has been refuge for three weeks awaiting safe passage that the executive has left in limbo. The lawyer who succeeded Dina Bolwarti a month and a half ago after her position became vacant, said: “I do not restrict myself, and if I have to enter the Mexican embassy, it will be done. I have shown with concrete actions, which many did not expect, that my hands do not shake.” Jerry even raised the stakes and said that he would face political condemnation for not complying with his international obligations in the case of the storming of the Mexican embassy residence located in the San Isidro area of Lima. “I’m not afraid when I know I’m doing the right thing,” he said.
Jerry, who was not elected at the ballot box, adopted a style of politics similar to that of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele: he organized raids and tightened prison conditions, in the midst of an unprecedented insecurity crisis. It is the same “strong hand” he uses in the diplomatic field. Regarding the question of whether relations with Mexico will be restored once Sheinbaum finishes his term, Jerry replied: “We are a sovereign country and our relations have been damaged because other presidents have allowed these excesses. I will not allow it. I will be 39 years old, but I know what I have to do and I think about it well. I don’t have any kind of fear when I make decisions.”
President Sheinbaum again questioned Peru’s radical decision to sever relations with Mexico. But he made it clear that raiding the embassy would indeed be a violation of international agreements. He pointed out, “We may have differences, but always within the framework of international law.” He stressed that “dialogue is always the best, there can be differences, and opinions are expressed. They have made the decision to sever relations with Mexico, but interfering in the embassy would be out of the ordinary.” Sheinbaum pointed to the attack on the Mexican embassy by Ecuadorian police in 2024, a case with a political background that prompted the North American country to sever ties with the Ecuadorian government.
The president, who is from the Somos Peru group, denied the existence of political persecution in Peru and stressed that no former president had been kidnapped, referring to Pedro Castillo. “I understand that they are talking nonsense as part of a political defense and not a legal defense. People already know who he is,” he said. Finally, regarding the announcement by the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, that he would withdraw his embassy if Peru entered the residence, he said frankly: “Foolish words and deaf ears.”
Relations between Mexico and Peru deteriorated after the crisis caused by Castillo. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s predecessor, always maintained that Castillo’s dismissal was a coup by the Peruvian right. In his unconditional support for the rural teacher, López Obrador ignored Boluarte’s government, which he described as phony. In response, the Peruvian Congress classified Undesirable character Lopez Obrador. The line followed by Sheinbaum and Gehry, similar to that of their predecessors, ultimately undermined the ties between the two countries in Latin America.