“Defenders of a coup plotter”, the harsh editorial of the newspaper “El Comercio” to the countries that support Pedro Castillo

The joint statement of Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia demanding the rest of the former president’s human rights Peru, Peter Castillodeposed and detained after an attempted coup on Wednesday last week, he was strongly criticized by the Peruvian press, especially by the most important newspaper, Businesswho published a harsh editorial entitled: “Coup advocates“.

“The joint statement appears to have been written by an acolyte of the former president and exhibits, at best, a complete disconnect from reality and, at worst, a crude manipulation of it,” he says. Business.

From this they point out that the text of the communiqué of the four countries asks that “the person who was reinstated in office just five days ago staged a coup and tried to subjugate the autonomous institutions of this country to save its skin”.

On the other hand, they point out that there is no mention of the coup: “Nowhere in the document is there any mention of the blow that the former president gave to Peruvian democracy to destroy it, as if it did not exist or as if they were trying to pretend not to see it or not to consider it something serious. An attitude that in our language is perfectly defined with one word: cynical“.

“What the governments of Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Argentina are asking is that Peruvians let’s cover our eyes before what was a deliberate attempt to destroy democracy in our country to “prioritize” a twisted and extravagant notion of “the will of the people” above what our laws dictate,” they point out.

The editorial was published before the Peruvian Foreign Ministry responded with a statement to the four countries and after it was known that there are already seven dead as a result of clashes between the followers of Pedro Castillo and the police.

“The shameful post of the Mexican, Bolivian, Colombian and Argentine governments should also act as a warning to citizens of those sister countries, since it is no exaggeration to say that, placed in a similar situation, those who have acted as open defenders of a coup plotterthey would most likely act like those with whom they are in solidarity today,” concludes the harsh editorial.

The complete editorial of the newspaper El Comercio del Peru

The coup d’état carried out on Wednesday 7 December in our country by the now ex-president Pedro Castillo serves as a sieve to differentiate politicians committed to democracy above all ideological sympathy from those who are not.

Among the first are the governments which in recent days have highlighted the response of the Peruvian institutions to the blow of an aspiring tyrant who was surrounded by serious signs of corruption to which he was never able (nor willing) to respond and who, in a desperate and last attempt , tried to shut down Parliament and intervene in the judicial system.

Among the latter, those who, on the contrary, served and continue to serve as the sad troops of the most ephemeral dictator in the history of our Republic.

In this regard, a few hours ago the governments of Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Argentina issued a joint statement which appears to have been written by an acolyte of the former president and which shows, at best, a complete detachment from reality and, at worse, a rough handling of it.

After qualifying Pedro Castillo Terrones as “President of the Republic of Peru” and expressing their concern about “the recent events” that led to his vacancy and arrest, the signatories ask that “priority be given to the will of the citizens” which was pronounced at the polls” and that “those who make up the institutions” “refrain” “from overthrowing the popular will expressed through free suffrage”.

Or, in other words, that the one who just five days ago carried out a coup and tried to subjugate the autonomous institutions of this country to save his skin be put back in office.

This, moreover, without mentioning anywhere in the document the blow that the former president gave to the Peruvian democracy to destroy it, as if it did not exist or as if they were trying to pretend not to see it or not to consider it something serious. An attitude that in our language is perfectly defined with one word: cynical.

On the other hand, suggesting that in our country the will of the citizens expressed at the polls in the 2021 elections is not respected is a fallacy that must be denounced.

Dina Boluarte took over the reins of the Peruvian government, elected by the Peruvians who voted for the presidential formula which she integrated as vice president of the coup plotter and to whom the Constitution entrusts her to follow the line of presidential succession when the head of state is vacant , as it happened.

In good measure, then, what the governments of Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico and Argentina are asking is that Peruvians cover their eyes to what has been a deliberate attempt to destroy democracy in our country for the sake of “prioritizing ” to a twisted and extravagant idea of ​​’the will of the people’ above what our laws dictate.

A request that is not only shameless (which deserves a decisive and rapid response from our Farnesina, which has remained silent until now), but also manifestly anti-democratic and which paints whoever endorsed it in their entire body.

As we said at the beginning, the reactions to the coup d’état perpetrated by Pedro Castillo in our country have served as a sieve to separate those who are truly committed to democratic ideals from those who, on the contrary, appeal to them only when they are functional to their interests or those of their ideological peers.

In this sense, the shameful publication by the Mexican, Bolivian, Colombian and Argentine governments should also serve as a warning to the citizens of these sister countries, since it is no exaggeration to say that, placed in a similar situation, those who have acted as open defenders of a coup plotter, they would most likely act like the one with whom they are in solidarity today.

Lima, special envoy

ap