Dina Boluarte meets with the leaders of political parties in search of a way out of the crisis in Peru

(CNN Spanish) –– The President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, met this Wednesday with the leaders of political parties in the Government Palace to address the political and social crisis that the country has been going through since December 2022, as well as in the international context, according to the Presidency. from that country.

The leader and former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, Secretary General Luis Galarreta and spokesman Miguel Torres participated in the meeting for the Fuerza Popular party. The Somos Perú party was represented by its president, Patricia Li, the general secretary Alejandro Fernández and congressman José Jerí.

At the end of the day, Boluarte spoke to the media and said that the meeting held talks “about how the government’s efforts are developing, but also looking at that responsibility for the political crises generated in those protest marches,” many of them violent.

Until this Wednesday, various events surrounding the demonstrations that began on December 7 have left at least 60 dead.

The president called on the authorities and protesters in Puno to end the blockade on the roads that has prevented the transfer of educational material, vital material and others.

For his part, Fujimori said at the end of the meeting that “the clearest way out of this crisis would be to advance the elections to the year 2023.” However, he added that if there were early elections “I am not going to be a presidential candidate.”

The politician also spoke about what she considered an international interference by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, noting that “Peru has defeated terrorism and we are not going to accept foreign terrorism to get involved in our country. I want to send my fraternal embrace to the Colombian people, but my total repudiation of the guerrilla Gustavo Petro”.

The Colombian president has not reacted to Fujimori’s statements. CNN is seeking comment from the Colombian government on Fujimori’s words. This Tuesday, after the Peruvian Congress declared Petro “persona non grata”, the Colombian Presidency indicated that it was not going to rule on the matter.

Boluarte also referred to what he called international interference, this time supposedly by the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, indicating that “in January of this year Peru should have assumed the pro-tempore presidency, however, due to that political situation of the president of the north, of Mexico, until now is harming the peoples that comprise the Pacific Alliance. Because simply for continuing to support the president who carried out the coup, who also has tax files that are under investigation.”

López Obrador does not recognize the Boluarte government and has defended former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo. This Wednesday, the Mexican president said in his press conference that what happened in Peru was “an authoritarian, anti-democratic act (…) it is the equivalent of what military coups d’état were.”

Since December 7, 2022, Peru has been plunged into a political and institutional crisis after then-President Castillo tried to unconstitutionally dissolve Congress. The now former president was arrested that day and is currently in pretrial detention.