The Peruvian Congress declares Gustavo Petro ‘persona non grata’ and aggravates the bilateral crisis with Colombia

The Peruvian Congress has agreed to declare persona non grata to the president of Colombia Gustavo Petro in record time. Barely three days after the motion was approved in the Foreign Relations Committee, the matter was raised to plenary on Friday and, after an hour of parliamentary debate, 72 votes in favor, 29 against and 7 abstentions resolved this initiative promoted by the right. The conservative political forces did not forgive Petro for having said that the Peruvian Police “march like Nazis against their own people”, in the framework of the mobilizations that demand the early elections and the resignation of President Dina Boluarte for more than two years. months.

Maricarmen Alva, the former president of Congress who in turn heads the Foreign Relations Commission, celebrated the statement against the Colombian Head of State “in rejection of his insulting statements that offend our Police. Peru is democratic and enforces respect for its law enforcement.” In previous days, the leader of Fuerza Popular, Keiko Fujimori, who reappeared on the public scene after meeting with Dina Boluarte in the Palace, showed her rejection of Petro without regard: “I am going to ask him publicly not to put his red nose in Peru . Peru has defeated terrorism and we are not going to accept foreign terrorism. My total repudiation of the guerrilla Gustavo Petro”.

It was a matter of time before Dina Boluarte, the first woman to cross the presidential band in the country, did the same. This Saturday, the president was energetic and summoned her counterpart. “We reject all kinds of interference with our history; I, from here, tell Mr. Petro to dedicate himself to governing Colombia. that his streets are also filling up with protests, and that he let us Peruvians solve ours ”. In addition, she described her statements as “sad” and pointed out that “from outside she encourages the Peruvian population.”

The motion approved by Congress includes an exhortation to the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Relations to take the necessary steps to ensure that Gustavo Petro “does not enter the national territory.” In this, the officialization of him as persona non grata: not to set foot in Peru again. Petro’s last visit to Lima dates back to August 2022, when she met with Pedro Castillo, at the XIII Andean Presidential Council. Since Dina Boluarte sat in the Palace, Peru has expelled Mexican ambassador Pablo Monroy and has barred former Bolivian president Evo Morales from entering.