Congress of Peru debates the electoral reform that proposes the advancement of general elections

The Congress of Peru debates this Thursday the advancement of elections, after the proposal of President Dina Boluarte for them to be held in December 2023.

The new Minister of Justice, José Tello, presented to Congress the two early election scenarios proposed by the Executive: December 2023 or April 2024.

This same Thursday, the Peruvian justice system is evaluating whether to extend the detention of former President Pedro Castillo, whose coup attempt sparked violent protests that led the new government to declare a state of national emergency.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least eight people have died during the demonstrations. The strongest protests take place in the south of the country, where five airports (Andahuaylas, Arequipa, Puno, Cuzco and Ayacucho) remain closed.

More than a hundred routes are blocked, complicating transportation and supplies. The train to the Machu Picchu tourist is suspended and there are hundreds of tourists stranded.

Consultation call to ambassadors

The Government of Peru announced this Thursday that it called in consultations with its ambassadors in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico in rejection of the declaration of those governments, which asked to replace Pedro Castillo as president, dismissed after his failed self-coup.

“With the President of the Republic (Dina Boluarte), we have arranged the call in consultation to Lima to our Ambassadors in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico, in reaction to the interference in the internal affairs of Peru,” announced Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi in an official ceremony.

The four countries expressed their support for Castillo on Monday and asked to respect the popular will in a joint statement. “We urge those who make up the institutions to refrain from reversing the popular will expressed with free suffrage,” the statement read.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, reiterated on Tuesday that for his country “Pedro Castillo is still the president” since he was elected democratically.

In diplomacy, a call for consultation is the call made by a country to its own ambassador to report on some specific aspect. It is usually a gesture used to express discomfort against a specific situation.

Castillo’s self-coup

Castillo was dismissed on Wednesday, December 7 by Congress after a failed self-coup, with which he tried to close Parliament and govern by decree.

The former Peruvian president, a rural teacher far from the Peruvian elites, was detained on his way to the Mexican embassy to request asylum.

Vice President Dina Boluarte took office constitutionally but is now facing massive protests from agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous organizations, which are demanding her resignation, the release of Castillo and immediate elections.

The demonstrations, with the blockade of airports and roads, leave at least seven dead and 200 injured, while the authorities decreed a state of emergency, with the participation of the Armed Forces in the control of public security. (YO)