LIMA: Peru’s Congress voted to declare Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum persona non grata on Thursday, after her country granted asylum to a former Peruvian prime minister on trial for allegedly aiding a 2022 coup attempt.
The two Latin American countries have had strained diplomatic relations for years, but tensions rose on Monday when Mexico granted asylum to ex-PM Betssy Chavez, prompting Peru to break off formal ties.
Chavez was Peru’s prime minister in December 2022 when then-president Pedro Castillo was ousted for trying to dissolve Congress following a months-long standoff.
The declaration against Sheinbaum was passed on Thursday in a 63-33 vote by Peru’s Congress, which also recently removed Castillo’s highly unpopular successor, Dina Boluarte.
Fernando Rospigliosi, the right-wing acting Congress president, said “it has been clearly established” that Sheinbaum interfered in Peru’s affair, “not only in words” but also by granting Chavez asylum.
