Family of ousted leader Pedro Castillo leaves for Mexico

• Pedro Castillo’s family has fled to Mexico.
• Mr. Castillo is still being held captive in Peru.
• Mr. Castillo was impeached by Peruvian lawmakers on December 7.

After Mexico granted them asylum, the family of Pedro Castillo, the deposed president of Peru, departed Peru for Mexico.

Mr. Castillo is still being held captive in Peru. The wife and kids of Mr. Castillo were earlier given permission by Peru’s foreign minister to travel safely from the Mexican embassy in Lima to the airport.

On the same flight, the Mexican ambassador to Lima also left after receiving a 72-hour departure order from Peru.

Because of “the repeated statements by that country’s top authorities about the political crisis in Peru,” the foreign ministry of Peru announced on social media that it was removing Ambassador Pablo Monroy.

Since Mr. Castillo’s impeachment by the Peruvian Congress on December 7th, tensions between the two nations have increased.

Immediately following Mr. Castillo’s proclamation of a state of emergency and announcement that he would dissolve Congress, the clear majority of Peruvian parliamentarians voted in favor of his impeachment.

Congress swiftly removed Castillo when the chairman of Peru‘s constitutional court deemed his action a “attempted coup.”

His vice-president, Dina Boluarte, took his position, and she has called for the elections to be moved up two years, to April 2024.

The earlier election date was supported by parliamentarians on Tuesday, but it still needs to be approved in a further vote in the coming months.

It’s not yet apparent if the action will be sufficient to put an end to Mr. Castillo’s supporters’ violent demonstrations, which are demanding both his release and early elections.

Mr. Castillo attempted to travel to the Mexican consulate in the hours following his impeachment in order to request asylum, but his own bodyguards stopped him and imprisoned him.

He is currently being held in custody as a revolt and conspiracy are allegedly being investigated.

Castillo’s impeachment is being defended by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who labels the process “undemocratic.”

Additionally, he gave his ambassador instructions to provide asylum to Mr. Castillo’s wife, Lilia Paredes, as well as the couple’s kids.

Further enragement was generated in Peru, where Ms. Paredes is being looked into for her potential connections to a money laundering operation.

Maria del Carmen Alva, a lawmaker for the opposition in Peru, charged that Mexico “sheltered the corrupt.”

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