Chile received the presidency on Wednesday pro tempore of the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American diplomatic and trade integration body that brings together four countries in the region: Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Santiago will take command of the entity for a month, dispelling the doubts that arose after the strong tension between Mexico, which refused to transfer control to Lima for political reasons.
Following an agreement between the member nations of the alliance, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, handed over command to her Chilean counterpart, Alberto van Klaveren. Renzo Villa Prado, Peru’s business manager in Chile, also participated in the ceremony held this morning at the Chilean Foreign Ministry, in downtown Santiago. It is precisely this country that will receive the presidency in another month, the time in which the extraordinary Chilean period will come to an end.
“Chile exercised its good offices with friendly countries, with Mexico and also with Peru, and temporarily took over the presidency pro tempore of the Pacific Alliance”, explained Minister Van Klaveren, who stressed that his country agreed to the deal “in a spirit of brotherhood with the countries and also with the consent of all the members of the alliance”.
The Chilean foreign minister explained: “We have always recognized the right that corresponds to Peru to exercise the presidency pro tempore and it is in that spirit that we decided to act as intermediaries in order to resolve this situation.” In addition, he highlighted the willingness of the Mexicans to complete the transfer, and stated that “the four countries remain committed to the future of the alliance.” “We believe, indeed, that we can continue advancing in the project, continue advancing to achieve the free movement of goods, services, capital and also people,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of President Gabriel Boric.
The handing over of temporary command to Chile implies the closure of a complex episode led by Mexico and Peru, countries that maintain a distant relationship since the failed self-coup led by Peruvian President Pedro Castillo. The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has expressed his rejection of the Lima provisional government led by Dina Boluarte, in a conflict that splashed the multilateral organization.
Lima was to receive the presidency of the Pacific Alliance in January, but Mexican diplomacy did not finalize the process. “I do not want to hand over a government that I consider spurious. I don’t want to legitimize a coup d’etat,” López Obrador said.
The defense of the Mexican government focused from the beginning on the fact that Castillo had been the victim of harassment during his tenure and that his dismissal was due to the interests of the economic and political elites of the Andean country. “It was a coup from conservatism, from the top brass who, like the conservatives in Mexico, are classist, racist and very corrupt,” said the president of the North American nation, who months ago had offered his support to the Castillo government against, he said, “conservative rage”.
López Obrador’s support for the deposed former president of Peru materialized with an offer of asylum for him and his family. The action only materialized with the former Peruvian first lady, Lidia Paredes, because Castillo was arrested after his failed political maneuver.
The Boluarte Administration has repudiated the position of the Government of Mexico, carrying out various actions such as expelling the Mexican ambassador in Peru, Pablo Monroy; definitively withdraw his counterpart in Mexico, Manuel Talavera Espina, and thereby reduce relations between the two nations to business managers. The Peruvian Congress voted a motion to express its annoyance at the “constant and unacceptable acts of meddling in internal affairs” by López Obrador and the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, who have expressed their opinion on the political crisis that the South American nation is dragging.
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