MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Castillo criticizes Boluarte, says he will remain loyal to the people

Castillo insisted on his immediate release and the establishment of a constituent assembly

Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo Terrones Monday said he was being “kidnapped” and insisted Dina Boluarte, who was sworn in after his impeachment, was a “usurper.”

 Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo Terrones Monday said he was being “kidnapped” and insisted Dina Boluarte, who was sworn in after his impeachment, was a “usurper.”

In a letter from the Barbadillo prison where he is housed for rebellion after trying to dissolve Parliament, Castillo also called for the abuses to stop: “I am speaking to you in the most difficult moment of my government, humiliated, incommunicado, mistreated and kidnapped, but thus clothed with your trust and struggle, with the majesty of the sovereign people, but also infused by the glorious spirit of our ancestors,” he wrote.

The letter was published through Castillo's Twitter account.

Attorney General Patricia Benavides Monday filed a constitutional complaint against Castillo and three of his ministers for the alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy. In her submission before Congress, Benavides described Castillo as a “co-perpetrator of the crime against the Powers of the State and the Constitutional Order-Rebellion” and, “alternatively, for the crime against the Powers of the State and the Constitutional Order-Conspiracy.”

Last Wednesday Castillo announced he was dissolving Congress and starting an emergency government, which would rule by means of decree-laws, convene a constituent assembly and carry out a reorganization of the judiciary.

In his letter Monday, Castillo stressed he was “unconditionally faithful to the popular and constitutional mandate” that he claims to hold “as president” and affirmed that he will not renounce his “high and sacred functions.” He also criticized his running mate Boluarte and particularly her idea to bring forward the elections to April 2024.

“What was said recently by a usurper is nothing more than the same snot and slime of the coup right wing, so the people should not fall into their dirty game of new elections,” Castillo underlined while insisting on his immediate release and the establishment of a constituent assembly.

Two people have died in protests nationwide demanding his release