The government of Mexico rejected this Thursday the declaration of non grata status in Peru for President Claudia Sheinbaum, considering it to be “motivated by false premises.” The Mexican Foreign Ministry defended in a statement that the decision to grant political asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez—who is being prosecuted alongside leftist former President Pedro Castillo for the failed 2022 coup attempt—was made in compliance with the applicable international legal framework for both countries. “Mexico reiterates that the granting of political asylum to citizen Betssy Betzabet Chávez Chino was decided in strict adherence to international law applicable in the matter, which is binding for both Mexico and Peru,” the note stated. At the same time, the Mexican government recalled that the UN General Assembly has declared that political asylum “is a peaceful and humanitarian act that cannot be considered unfriendly by any other State.” Likewise, it denied having intervened “in any way in the internal affairs of Peru,” in accordance with the “normative principles of foreign policy” in Mexico and “its solid diplomatic tradition.” The Mexican government's statement comes in response to the declaration of non grata status for Sheinbaum, approved today by the Congress of Peru, due to the “unacceptable interference” by the President of Mexico “in the internal affairs of Peru” after granting political asylum to Chávez. The declaration, approved with 63 votes in favor, also mentions the “offense” by Sheinbaum to the Peruvian democratic system following her criticism of the Peruvian leaders who succeeded Castillo, who has been in preventive detention since the day of the attempted coup in Barbadillo, the prison for former Peruvian presidents. On October 8, the Foreign Relations Commission of the Peruvian Parliament had already approved a first report declaring Sheinbaum a non grata person for having received Argentine lawyer Guido Croxatto, who is handling the international defense of Castillo, and for repeatedly expressing her support for Castillo, calling for his release. The Mexican government reported on Monday that Betssy Chávez was in its embassy in Lima and that it had granted her political asylum in the face of the trial for the failed coup, with the Prosecutor's Office requesting sentences of 34 years in prison for the former president and 25 years for the former prime minister. This led the Peruvian government to announce on Monday that it was breaking diplomatic relations with Mexico, which had already been functioning without ambassadors since early 2023, as Mexico did not recognize the legitimacy of the government of former President Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo after his detention and removal from office.
