Mexico–Peru tensions rise after president declared persona non grata

MEXICO CITY

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday said Mexico will maintain its defense of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo as Peru’s Congress prepares to vote on declaring her persona non grata, deepening tensions between the two countries.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum brushed off the move by Peruvian lawmakers: “It doesn’t matter.”

She said she met with Castillo’s lawyer, Guido Croxatto, at the presidential palace on Aug. 30 and expressed solidarity: “I received here the lawyer of President Pedro Castillo, who, from our point of view, experienced a coup d’état, and I expressed my solidarity with him. That’s what I did.”

Sheinbaum described Castillo’s imprisonment as a “serious precedent of political persecution.”

Peru’s Congress is set to vote on a motion that would bar Sheinbaum from entering the country, citing her continued support for Castillo, who was deposed and jailed after attempting to dissolve Congress in December 2022.

Diplomatic fallout

Mexico under then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered asylum to Castillo’s wife and children after his arrest on Dec. 7, 2022, prompting Peru’s government under Dina Boluarte to expel Mexico’s ambassador.

By February 2023, Boluarte’s government had recalled its ambassador to Mexico and severed diplomatic ties, accusing Lopez Obrador of interventionist policies and violations of international law.

Sheinbaum said her administration is maintaining the same approach: “It’s a policy that began under President Lopez Obrador’s government — in this case, just as in the case of Ecuador, where we broke relations due to the invasion of our embassy — we are maintaining the same stance.”