Peru announced on Monday that it is severing diplomatic relations with Mexico after former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez sought refuge in the Mexican embassy in Lima to request political asylum, escalating tensions between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela said the decision came after Peruvian officials confirmed that Chávez, who served under former President Pedro Castillo, had fled to the Mexican mission earlier in the day.
“In response to this unfriendly act, and taking into account the repeated occasions in which the current and former presidents of that country have interfered in the internal affairs of Peru, the Peruvian government has decided today to break diplomatic relations with Mexico,” de Zela told reporters.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on the matter.
Chávez, who was facing criminal charges for her alleged involvement in Castillo’s failed 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress, had been imprisoned since June 2023. She was released under judicial supervision in September while awaiting trial. Prosecutors have sought a 25-year prison sentence against her.
Castillo’s attempt to shutter Congress triggered a political crisis that led to his impeachment and arrest, while his vice president, Dina Boluarte, assumed the presidency.
Since then, relations between Lima and Mexico City have deteriorated sharply, with Peruvian officials accusing Mexican leaders of siding with Castillo and meddling in Peru’s internal politics.
Chávez’s lawyer, Raúl Noblecilla, told local broadcaster RPP that he had not been in contact with his client for several days and could not confirm whether she had formally applied for asylum.
The sudden diplomatic rupture marks the latest chapter in a prolonged standoff between Peru and Mexico, reflecting the lingering fallout from the 2022 political upheaval that continues to divide the Andean nation.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
