Pedro Castillo: Peru’s ousted president detained by police in Lima

On Dec 8, 2022

Peru’s ex-President Pedro Castillo has been detained, after his efforts to dissolve parliament instead ended in him being thrown out of office.

In a dramatic day in Lima, Castillo was accused of plotting a coup in a last-gasp bid to avoid impeachment on corruption charges by Congress.

The move sparked international and local outrage, and lawmakers moved quickly to remove him from office.

His Vice-President Dina Boluarte was later sworn in as his successor.

She condemned her predecessor’s move to dissolve Congress as an “attempted coup” and pledged to form a new cabinet of all political stripes.

Images run by local TV outlets showed Castillo cooperating with prosecutors in police custody. He has reportedly been moved to a police-run prison, but Mexico says it is willing to offer him asylum.

The country’s Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said he was “very concerned” by Castillo’s detention, but said the former president had yet to make a formal request for asylum or aid from his government.

“Mexico regrets the latest events in Peru and wishes respect for democracy and human rights, for the good of that endearing sister nation,” Ebrard added in a post on Twitter.

The head of the constitutional court accused him of launching a coup, while the US “strongly urged” Castillo to reverse his decision.

Peru’s police and armed forces released a joint statement in which they said they respected the constitutional order.

Agencies