The parliamentary subcommittee on Constitutional Accusations approved this Monday to investigate the president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, for the alleged crime of treason due to his declarations of giving Bolivia an outlet to the sea.
The president of the subcommittee, the conservative Rosio Torres, of the Alliance for Progress party (APP), gave the casting vote that allowed the investigation of the accusation against the president to be declared admissible, by nine votes in favor and eight against.
Initially, the complaint for alleged violation of the Constitution was filed by former legislator Lourdes Flores and former Foreign Minister Francisco Tudela, among others, but during the debate the right-wing parliamentarians Norma Yarrow and José Cueto supported the complaint.
The subcommission will be in charge of investigating the constitutional accusation and issuing a report to the Permanent Commission, which will decide its possible debate before the plenary session.
The accusation against Castillo responds to the statements he offered last January to the Conclusions program, by the journalist Fernando del Rincón, of the CNN en Español network, in which he confirmed that in an event, before being a candidate for the Presidency of Peru, he declared be in favor of giving “sea to Bolivia”.
He added: “Now we will come to an agreement, we will consult the people.”
“If the Peruvians agree, I owe it to the people, I would never do things that the people do not want,” he noted about a possible referendum to grant an outlet to the sea to Bolivia through Peruvian territory.
Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific Ocean in the War of the Pacific and demands a negotiation from Chile to recover its maritime sovereignty.
However, Peru offered Bolivia a strip of beach for its free use for 99 years and a free zone in the province of Ilo that is still not fully developed, 30 years after its creation.
The head of state is facing a new political crisis, with the announcement of new requests for his removal from office, as a result of the statements made by the businesswoman Karelim López to the prosecution that implicate him in the activities of an alleged criminal organization entrenched in the Executive Peruvian.
Castillo has “categorically” rejected these statements and said that “as president and as a citizen” he demands that the Prosecutor’s Office “continue with the investigation already begun and, in the shortest possible time, give objective explanations, consistent with justice.”
After knowing the information, representatives of the opposition in Congress announced that they will try to reach an agreement to present a vacancy motion (removal) against Castillo.
EFE
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