“It seems to me a coup d’état”: Gustavo Petro reiterates his support for Pedro Castillo

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Pedro Castillo is “cornered by a corrupt political class”.

According to the president, the opponents of the former Peruvian president are only trying to remove him “illegally”.

In Peru, they rejected the appeal of Castillo’s defense to annul the process in which he is being investigated.

“I don’t want to interfere in internal politics, but I have already been declared persona non grata, so I will do it”, declared Gustavo Petro during his visit to Stanford University.

In his words, Castillo was a president who represented an indigenous population historically invisibilized in politics and who was removed without due process.

“I met Pedro Castillo twice when I became president. I know nothing more about him. I saw a man cornered by the corrupt political class,” he commented.

The Colombian president also explained that he had only seen him twice during his eight months as president of Colombia and that during that time, he had visited Peru when they stormed the government palace to “capture his wife and daughter”.

In his opinion, these actions demonstrated that the authorities were trying to corner Pedro Castillo.

“Why did he lose his political rights if he was the president elected by the majority of the people; why dozens of Peruvians were murdered? Do they not have political rights?”

“Why are the indigenous communities of the highlands not listened to? Why is a constituent pact impossible instead of removing constitutionally elected people from office without convicting them, taking them to jail without convicting them.”

“That seems to me a coup d’état,” he added.

The Peruvian crisis was triggered last December 7, when the then president, Pedro Castillo, tried to shut down the Congress and take over the Judiciary, the Public Ministry, and the Constitutional Court by establishing a “government of exception”.

The Peruvian Congress considered that Castillo had attempted to break the constitutional order, dismissed him, and appointed Boluarte, then vice-president, as head of state.

Castillo was arrested and remained in a Lima jail on charges of alleged rebellion and conspiracy, among other crimes.

Since December, several social protests have been taking place in Peru by citizen groups and organizations.

Demonstrators demand the ouster of President Boluarte and members of Congress through the advancement of general elections.

With information from Sputnik