NEW YORK (HPD) — The Organization of American States approved Thursday by acclamation a resolution supporting the government of Peru and called for the preservation of democratic institutions after the accusations that President Pedro Castillo has received for months from the opposition and the federal prosecutor of your country.
The resolution was voted after a representative of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that Peru is experiencing a scenario of “constitutional crisis.”
The resolution asks that the actions of “all the actors” in Peru be framed in the “respect for the rule of law.” It also highlights articles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter that recognize the constitutional “subordination” of all State institutions “to the legally constituted civil authority.”
In 14 months of Castillo’s government he has survived two impeachment attempts by the opposition in Congress. In turn, Attorney General Patricia Benavides has denounced him before Parliament to be able to investigate him for alleged crimes of corruption.
At the same time, Benavides is carrying out five preliminary investigations into Castillo for the alleged crimes of criminal organization and corruption, as well as another additional investigation for an alleged plagiarism of his master’s thesis in educational psychology in 2012.
The government has responded by denouncing the attorney general before Congress for alleged violation of the Constitution, abuse of authority and prevarication. It is indicated that the complaint against Castillo is “purely political” and is part of “a systematic plan to destabilize the government.”
In Peru, a president cannot be accused during his government because the Constitution in its article 117 says that this only happens in case of treason against the country, dissolution of parliament for cases other than those allowed or not calling elections or preventing the functioning parliament or electoral bodies.
The first vice president and rapporteur for Peru of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Guatemalan Stuardo Ralón, said during the meeting at the OAS that Peru’s institutions “are at risk.” Ralón was recently in Peru.
“Such irruptions generated in a concept of high conflict between public authorities have made it difficult to govern the country,” said Ralón. “We were able to verify first-hand that this has led to a erosion of the legislative agenda and has raised questions about the independence of the judiciary and has also weakened confidence in public institutions.”
The resolution approved on Thursday confirms the appointment of a high-level group, made up of representatives of the member states, to visit Peru and analyze the situation. The extraordinary session of the OAS Permanent Council was requested by Castillo to apply the Inter-American Democratic Charter and thus preserve the legitimate exercise of power in Peru, the OAS said.
The Peruvian prosecutor’s office indicated on Wednesday in Lima, in a briefing with the international press, that it has “more than 190 elements” that support the complaint against the president. The fiscal hypothesis affirms that Castillo leads a criminal organization and would have committed corruption.
According to the law, a parliamentary subcommittee will analyze the constitutional complaint of the attorney general and the president. The results could last two months and are uncertain because even within the 25-member subcommittee, neither the ruling party nor the opposition have a consolidated majority.
Castillo’s government began in 2021 and is scheduled to end on July 28, 2026.
_____
Associated Press Lima reporter Franklin Briceño contributed to this report.