MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

AMLO still calls Castillo “President” and insists “will of the people” must be respected

López Obrador is still to recognize Boluarte as president of Peru after Castillo's impeachment

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) Tuesday replied to the objections raised by Peru's Foreign Ministry to his comments regarding the ongoing political crisis in the South American Country.

”There is no political normalcy in Peru, it is not a matter of saying: there are going to be relations. There are people in the streets (protesting), which also, by the way, is not informed, the media does not inform, if it were in Venezuela,“ things would be different, AMLO insisted after announcing that diplomatic ties between the two countries had been placed ”on hold.“

”The will of the people must be respected,“ the Mexican leader insisted. He also argued that the deposed President Pedro Castillo Terrones had been elected democratically and ”cannot be removed from office.“

In a joint statement with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico, AMLO also called for Castillo's human rights to be respected and insisted that the indigenous former head of state had been subjected to ”undemocratic harassment.“ López Obrador also denied any ”meddling“ in Peru's internal affairs.

Mexico's ambassador to Lima had been summoned by President Dina Boluarte's Foreign Ministry to convey its rejection of the ”expressions of the Mexican authorities“ that ”constitute interference in the internal affairs“ of the country.

López Obrador is still to recognize Boluarte as president of Peru after the former Vice President was sworn in following Castillo's impeachment by Congress. ”It is not graft, to be there conducting anything, our ambassador is in his diplomatic work and it is Foreign Relations that is in charge of carrying out this process,“ AMLO also said in his daily press briefing.

AMLO, who still refers to Castillo as ”President“ underlined that ”the will of the people who elected him must be respected, recognizing that he won democratically and that he cannot be removed from office, that this [impeachment], although in the Peruvian Constitution, has a problem, an anti-democratic flaw of origin.“

López Obrador, who even offered political asylum to Castillo, also pointed out that diplomatic relations with Peru were on hold, although it did not mean breaking ties or recalling ambassadors. ”It is on pause, awaiting what happens and hopefully a democratic solution is sought,“ he explained.

About recognizing Boluarte, AMLO claimed that ”it is a foreign policy doctrine in Mexico, that is, neither for good nor for bad, there is no recognition of any foreign government in Mexico, so what our diplomacy is doing is to analyze the events that are taking place.“

López Obrador also called for all ”repression“ against the Peruvian people to be avoided. Seven people have already been reported killed in clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

”We regret very much what is happening, especially for the suffering of the brotherly people of Peru, because this in one way or another originates from above, what we have always been sustaining,” the Mexican leader also pointed out.