In contrast to the explicit support of the vast majority of regional left-wing leaders for former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, including those of Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia, Chile has chosen to support the current Peruvian president, Dina Boluarte.
This was expressed by the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola, to her Peruvian counterpart, Ana Cecilia Gervasi, during a telephone conversation this Thursday, reports the official newspaper ‘El Peruano’.
«I am grateful for the support of the Government of Chile for the assumption of constitutional command of President Boluarte», said Minister Gervasi, who has also received the support of the conservative governments of Ecuador, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
According to Gervasi, Urrejola has expressed the «critical position» of the Government of the Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, «to the rupture of the democratic order» that occurred on December 7, when Castillo unsuccessfully announced the dissolution of Congress and the calling of legislative elections to launch a new constituent process to leave behind the Constitution inherited from Fujimorism.
Gervasi has also held talks this Thursday with his counterparts from Uruguay, Francisco Bustillo; from Ecuador, Juan Carlos Holguín; and from Costa Rica, Arnoldo André Tinoco, who have presented their commitment to the new Boluarte government and their rejection of the «rupture of the constitutional order».
In addition to these telephone conversations, the new head of Peruvian diplomacy has met with the Canadian Ambassador, Louis Marcotte, and with that of the United States, Lisa Kenna. Both have shown the support of their respective countries in the new political process in Peru.
Chile’s support to Boluarte contrasts with the rejection that other countries with leftist governments have shown to the new executive after learning of Castillo’s arrest and the accusation of alleged rebellion.
The governments of Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia sent a joint letter this week expressing their «deep concern» over the events taking place in Peru, with Castillo still under provisional detention pending confirmation of a request by the Prosecutor’s Office to extend his imprisonment.
In this letter, they recall that «it is not news» that since his election, Castillo has been «victim of anti-democratic harassment», which violates all international laws. An idea that has been publicly expressed by other governments of similar political sign, such as those of Honduras, Cuba and Venezuela.
«Our governments call on all the actors involved in the previous process to prioritize the will of the citizens that was pronounced at the ballot box» and to refrain from «reversing the popular will expressed through free suffrage», this letter claims.