Peru recalls ambassador to Colombia 'definitively'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Mar 2023 09:17

The Peruvian Foreign Ministry claims that the move followed "repeated interference and offensive expressions" by leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia on March 16, 2023 (Reuters)

Peru announced on Wednesday a "definitive recall" of its Ambassador to Colombia, accusing its neighbor, as it did with Mexico last month, of "repeated interference".

The Peruvian Foreign Ministry claimed that the move followed "repeated interference and offensive expressions" by leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who was allegedly "distorting reality by ignoring that on December 7, 2022, a coup d'etat took place in Peru perpetrated by former President Pedro Castillo."

During the Ibero-American summit last week in the Dominican Republic, Petro lamented that Castillo was not present, saying he "should be here, (but) is in prison... They took him out with a coup."

Peru's Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi responded during the summit, insisting that "if Pedro Castillo is not here, it is because he carried out a coup."

With Wednesday's announcement, diplomatic relations between the two South American countries are now formally at the level of charge d'affaires, according to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry.

Petro's "continuous interfering expressions have seriously deteriorated the historical relationship of friendship, cooperation and mutual respect that has existed between Peru and Colombia," the Ministry said in a statement.

Castillo, 53, has been behind bars since December 7 when he was impeached and arrested after attempting to dissolve parliament and rule by decree.

His impeachment sparked mass nationwide protests that left at least 54 people dead and some 600 injured from clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Protesters have demanded the resignation of Castillo's successor, his former Vice President Dina Boluarte. They also want immediate elections, a new constitution, and the dissolution of parliament.

Boluarte first recalled Peru's Ambassador to Colombia for consultations in December, while the Peruvian Congress in February declared Petro persona non grata.

On February 25, Boluarte also announced the definitive recall of Peru's ambassador to Mexico, alleging that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had also violated the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.

The diplomatic dispute has frozen operations of the Pacific Alliance -- a trade group comprising Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico, as Lopez Obrador refuses to hand over the rotating presidency to Boluarte.

Lopez Obrador has repeatedly called Castillo's ouster "illegal".