Mexican President Lopez Obrador has refused to recognise the government of the Peruvian interim president Dina Boluarte. He calls the new government unconstitutional and Boluarte a puppet of the oligarchs who plunder the country’s natural resources. He has criticised the imprisonment of ex-president Pedro Castillo as a farce and injustice. He has given asylum to the family of Castillo. Obrador also confirmed that he would continue to support Castillo who was "unjustly and illegally removed from office" in December.
The strong language of Obrador is surprising. He never used such words against Trump who threatened American democracy and disparaged Mexican immigrants.
Boluarte has reacted understandably accusing Obrador of interfering in the internal affairs of Peru. She has withdrawn Peru’s ambassador to Mexico and has declared the Mexican ambassador in Lima as persona non grata.
President Obrador has refused to pass on the presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Peru. He says he will let the Rio Group decide on the matter. When President Castillo was to travel to Mexico to take over the presidency of the Pacific Alliance, the Peruvian Congress refused to permit the travel of Castillo. Yes..in some countries of Latin America, the president needs the approval of Congress for foreign travel.
The Colombian and Argentine governments have also been critical of the removal of President Castillo. Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales has expressed solidarity with Castillo and has refused to recognise the Boluarte government. In response, the Peruvian authorities have banned the entry of Morales into Peru.
Brazil's President Lula, the iconic leader of the Latin American left, has taken a moderate and neutral position. He is conscious of the similarity of the removal of President Dilma Rouseff by the Brazilian Congress through a constitutional coup. Gabriel Boric, the fresh face of the Latino Left, has followed Lula’s lead in neutrality. They are unable to defend Castillo who made the unpardonable mistake of proclamations to dissolve Congress and the Judiciary.
I believe that Castillo was wrongly advised, mislead and trapped into political suicide by others. Castillo is not a typical caudillo like Fujimori or Bolsonaro to pull off a coup. He did not have the competence, courage or network to do a coup. He did not make proper plans for a coup by lining up support from military or political parties or leaders. With his background as a school teacher from a remote rural area, he had no understanding of the power brokers of Lima. He was simply naïve and clueless.
The US is having fun watching the removal of a leftist president in Latin America which has seen a resurgence of the Left. For the first time in the history of the region, all six major countries (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Chile) are ruled by leftist presidents. Theoretically, even Peru is on this list since President Dina Boluarte belongs to the same leftist party as Castillo. But she has made a deal with the rightists in Congress for her own survival.
The only consolation is that there is no existential threat to Peruvian democracy as there was in Brazil from Bolsonaro and in the US by Trump. There is no dangerous political extremism in Peru as we see even now in Brazil and US.
In any case, it is an internal matter of Peru which needs to be resolved by its Congress and the President of the country. There have been widespread protests calling for early elections and constitutional reforms. But Congress is not in a hurry for elections or reforms. They hope that the protestors will get exhausted after some time. So the stalemate will continue through this year and hopefully, there might be elections next year. Meanwhile, President Boluarte will continue to struggle on three fronts: the protestors, the Congress and the external pressure from Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
Bolivia had undergone a similar crisis when the leftist president Evo Morales was overthrown in a coup in 2019 and was replaced by a rightist government. Evo Morales had invited trouble for himself by his own hubris when he tried to hang on to power beyond the constitutional limit of two-term mandates. Mexican President Obrador gave him asylum and helped him. In the elections held in 2020 Luis Arce, the candidate of Morales' party MAS was elected as president. The country has regained its political stability under the pragmatic rule of President Arce.
The author is an expert in Latin American affairs
