The government of Peru announced its decision to sever diplomatic relations with Mexico on Monday after a former Peruvian prime minister who is accused of rebellion was granted asylum at the Mexican Embassy in Lima.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela announced the decision, telling journalists that the government of Peru had found out earlier on Monday that Betssy Chávez, who served as prime minister under former President Pedro Castillo, had fled to the Mexican Embassy.

Former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez faces charges for her alleged role in former President Castillo’s failed attempt to dissolve Peru’s Congress in 2022. (Betssy Chávez/Facebook)

“Today we learned with surprise and deep regret that former prime minister Betssy Chávez, the alleged co-author of the coup d’état attempted by former president Pedro Castillo, is being granted asylum at the residence of the Mexican Embassy in Peru,” de Zela said.

“In response to this unfriendly act, and taking into account the repeated occasions in which the current and former presidents of that country have interfered in the internal affairs of Peru, the Peruvian government has decided today to break diplomatic relations with Mexico,” he said, referring to Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum.

The decision to sever diplomatic ties with Mexico was subsequently confirmed via the official social media accounts of the Peruvian President’s Office, occupied since last month by President José Jerí.

Karla Ornelas, Mexico’s top diplomat in Peru, will have to leave the South American country in short order.

Chávez faces criminal charges related to her alleged role in former President Castillo’s failed attempt to dissolve Peru’s Congress in late 2022 when lawmakers were preparing an impeachment vote against him. She was imprisoned in June 2023, but “released by a judge in September while her trial was underway,” Reuters reported.

The news agency also reported that the ex-prime minister “has denied knowing about Castillo’s plan to dissolve the legislature” almost three years ago. The Peruvian Attorney General’s Office has accused Chávez of being an accomplice in the crime of rebellion against the powers of the state, the Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors requested that she be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Castillo, a former teacher and union leader who was sworn in as president in July 2021, was ousted by the Peruvian Congress in late 2022 and has been detained since Dec. 7 of that year on charges of rebellion and conspiracy, among other crimes. Peruvian prosecutors accused Castillo of attempting to promote a coup.

Later in December 2022, then-president López Obrador declared that Mexico’s diplomatic relations with Peru were “on hold,” and said that his government still considered Castillo to be the leader of the South American nation.

He said that Castillo had faced “an atmosphere of confrontation and hostility” from the beginning of his “legitimate presidency” due to “the interests of the economic and political elite.”

AMLO puts diplomatic relations ‘on hold’ with Peru as crisis deepens

López Obrador accused Castillo’s successor, Dina Boluarte, of “usurping” the presidency of Peru.

Sheinbaum has also expressed support for Castillo, claiming that he was the victim of a “coup,” rather than the instigator of one, and calling for him to be released from prison and given “a fair trial.”

While Castillo is in prison, his wife and children are in Mexico.

In September, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Peru approved a motion that sought to declare Sheinbaum a persona non grata due to her refusal to recognize Boluarte — ousted last month on grounds of “permanent moral incapacity” — as the legitimate president of Peru. However, the Congress itself has not approved the motion.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry responds 

In a statement issued on Monday, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said that “Mexico regrets and rejects the unilateral decision of Peru to break diplomatic relations as a response to a legitimate act.”

The SRE said that Mexico granted “diplomatic asylum” to Chávez in “full” accordance with international law, and cited the former prime minister as saying that she has been subject to “repeated violations” of her human rights as “part of a political persecution of the Peruvian state” since her arrest in 2023.

“According to the Caracas Convention, the only party empowered to assess the nature of the persecution against asylum applicants is the asylum-granting State, Mexico in this case,” the SRE said.

“… Mexico reaffirms that, as recognized by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the granting of asylum cannot be considered an unfriendly act by any other State,” the Foreign Ministry said.

President Sheinbaum described the Peruvian government’s actions as “out of proportion” at her Tuesday morning press conference. (Saúl López Escorcia / Presidencia)

“For the reasons stated above, Mexico rejects Peru’s unilateral decision, as it is excessive and disproportionate in response to a legitimate act by Mexico that is consistent with international law, [and] which in no way constitutes interference in Peru’s internal affairs,” the SRE said.

At her Tuesday morning press conference, Sheinbaum acknowledged that Peru had decided to break off diplomatic relations with Mexico.

“From our perspective, it’s completely out of proportion, but it’s a decision they’re taking,” she said.

Sheinbaum said that the Mexican Embassy in Lima had asked the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the decision and was told that “only” the diplomatic relationship was being severed, and not “the consular” one.

“In any case we’re going to wait to receive the [official] notification,” she said.

Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico’s trade relationship with Peru would continue. The two countries are part of the Pacific Alliance trade bloc along with Chile and Colombia.

Mexico will now have an absence of diplomatic relations with two South American countries, as the Mexican government severed ties with Ecuador in April 2024 after Ecuadorian police broke into the Mexican Embassy in Quito seeking to detain a former vice president of the South American nation who had been promised asylum in Mexico.

After Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s re-election earlier this year, Sheinbaum said  there were no plans to restore diplomatic relations with the South American nation.

With reports from Reuters, AP, El País and Milenio