(Adds reaction of the president of Peru in the sixth paragraph)
MEXICO CITY, May 26 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Friday that he does not want his country to have economic or commercial relations with Peru “until there is democratic normality” in the Andean country, something which according to the president does not currently exist under the government of Dina Boluarte.
The statements by the Mexican president come a day after the Congress of the South American nation declared him “persona non grata” for his criticism of his Peruvian counterpart and his refusal to hand over the leadership of the Pacific Alliance, a regional group also formed by Colombia and Chile.
“As long as there is no democratic normality in Peru, we do not want economic or commercial relations with them,” said López Obrador, known by the acronym AMLO, in his daily press conference, where he also stated that the bilateral relationship has been left in a status of “pause “.
Asked by a journalist about handing over the Pacific Alliance baton to Peru, he reiterated that he is not going to give it to Boluarte, because “he is usurping the presidency,” and he is considering giving it to his Chilean colleague, Gabriel Boric.
“I can deliver it to Chile without any problem; to Petro, Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, no, because they also declared him unpleasant,” he explained.
Later, Boluarte criticized AMLO’s response when asked by journalists about the president’s comments. “A lot of ignorance for so much intelligence of the Mexican people,” she stated.
Mexico was due to transfer the group’s pro tempore presidency to Peru late last year but López Obrador refused to do so when the Peruvian Congress ousted President Pedro Castillo, and Boluarte took office.
The Pacific Alliance is an integration mechanism based on the free circulation of goods, services and capital that seeks to become a power, targeting Asian markets.
(Reporting by Raúl Cortés Fernández; editing by Adriana Barrera and Carlos Serrano)
Source: Ambito
