The president of the Peruvian Judiciary, Elvia Barrios, has welcomed the arrival of a mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), although she acknowledged that, in her opinion, it was not necessary for representatives of the organization to travel to Lima.
«From my point of view it was not necessary; however, it is good that they are here, because I believe that the interview will be fruitful», said Barrios in the prelude to her meeting with the OAS mission, which has traveled to Peru to analyze the political situation in the Andean country after a request from its president, Pedro Castillo.
The OAS delegation will hold meetings with representatives of government authorities, including Castillo himself, as well as with the president of Congress, José Williams; the attorney general, Patricia Benavides; and Barrios herself.
«What we as the Judicial Branch are going to do is simply, objectively and clearly, present what we have done as an institution, what our competences are», Barrios remarked in declarations to the Panorama program of the Panamerican television network.
For his part, the spokesman for the OAS mission to Peru, the former Foreign Minister of Paraguay, Eladio Loizaga, remarked the intention of the organization to «listen» to both the Government and the opposition, as well as to the representatives of the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary.
In mid-October, the OAS Permanent Council decided to send a high-level delegation to Peru to analyze the political situation in the Andean country at the request of President Castillo himself.
The Peruvian Executive formally requested the organization to activate Articles 17 and 18 of the Democratic Charter with which the organization may provide assistance when «the government of a member state considers that its democratic political institutional process or its legitimate exercise of power is at risk».
