The head of Peru's Council of Ministers, Ernesto Álvarez, stated on Monday that it is "not possible" to intervene in the Mexican Embassy in Lima to arrest former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is taking refuge in the diplomatic mission.
"It is not possible to try to remove a person from the premises of a diplomatic mission, no matter how emotive the situation or how much she is required by Peruvian justice," Álvarez told the media upon leaving Congress, as reported by the RPP radio chain.
Along these lines, he emphasized that "both he, who was president of the Constitutional Court, and the minister (the Foreign Minister, Hugo de Zela), who has a long and successful career in the diplomatic field," are aware of the impossibility of such an intervention.
Thus, Peru's prime minister contradicted his own president, José Jerí, who the day before affirmed that "if it is necessary to enter the Mexican Embassy, it will be done," an idea that De Zela had rejected less than three weeks ago.
In response, Álvarez clarified that the president's words represent "the sentiment of the majority of Peruvians" regarding the asylum granted to his predecessor, who is sought by the justice system for her role in the attempted coup d'état led by former President Pedro Castillo at the end of 2022.
Álvarez's statements came a few hours after the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, warned that the raid on the embassy would violate International Law, alluding to the rupture of diplomatic relations with Ecuador after the detention of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas and the incursion of security forces into his embassy.
The Supreme Court of Peru ordered five months of preventive detention and a search and arrest warrant against Chávez, while the Public Prosecutor's Office requested a 25-year prison sentence for her, in addition to her disqualification from holding public office for two and a half years, accusing her as an alleged co-author of the crime of rebellion against the State.
Castillo, for his part, is in custody after he announced the dissolution of Congress and the establishment of an emergency government on December 7, 2022.
His decree, which garnered no support, led the Parliament to pass a motion of censure against him (Europa Press).
