López Obrador sees the expulsion of his ambassador in Peru as "arbitrary" but rules out breaking relations

The ambassador and relatives of former President Castillo land in Mexico City

MADRID, 21 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has branded this Wednesday as an "arbitrary measure" the expulsion of the Mexican ambassador in Peru, Pablo Monroy, but has ruled out that the Mexican authorities plan to break their relations with the Peruvian government.

"The situation in Peru has led them to take arbitrary measures such as declaring our ambassador in Peru persona non grata. (...) It is important to us to take care of his integrity and that of his family," he asserted before stating that the Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not break relations with Peru, "among other things because we need to keep our Embassy open to provide protection to Mexicans who reside, work and live in Peru."

Thus, he has announced that the diplomatic legation "will continue to function" and a person in charge of the Embassy has been appointed. "We are still pending the events in Peru. (...) Fortunately, the largest number of Mexican tourists have already left the country and the procedures are being carried out so that all Mexicans who want to do so can leave the territory," he pointed out during his daily press conference, known as 'La Mañanera'.

"Those who have any activity there should know that they are not alone and that we are going to be aware of everything that may happen," he asserted before emphasizing that Mexico "will always defend the right to asylum" given that "it is part of its foreign policy. "We are going to take measures but completely contrary. We are not going to expel anyone. We have not done it and it will not be done," she added.

In this sense, López Obrador has taken the opportunity to "regret the decision of the Government of Peru", a government that he has described as "questioned as a whole for its behavior, especially for opting for repression and not seeking a way out of the conflict through dialogue and the democratic method".

For the Mexican president, the best option was "to call elections as soon as possible to avoid a situation of political instability." "Many times this fundamentally affects the brotherly people of Peru. "We know how to distinguish very well between what the people are, which is a brotherly people, and the attitude of the so-called political class, of the groups of economic and political power in Peru, who are the ones who have maintained this crisis due to their personal ambitions and economic interests", he said.

The ambassador, for his part, landed this morning at the airport in Mexico City, the capital, after being expelled from Peruvian territory. The relatives of former President Pedro Castillo have traveled with him; his wife, Lilia Paredes and his two children. All of them have received political asylum in Mexico.

The Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, has indicated on his Twitter account that the Castillo family "is already in Mexico City." "Our country has honored his tradition of asylum. I recognize Ambassador Pablo Monroy for the effectiveness of his efforts in complex circumstances," he asserted.

Paredes and the children of Castillo have been received by the director general for South America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Martín Borrego. The plane in which they were traveling landed around 7:00 a.m. (local time) after Peru set a 72-hour deadline for them to leave the country and granted them a safe-conduct.